MARSHALL APPLEWHITE – LEAVE EARTH

Hot on the heels of his recent ‘Leave Earth’ EP, Detroit native Joel Dunn touches back down with a full-length album of the same name. The release is the culmination of a two-year period that has seen the producer evolve from the turbo-charged bass leanings of his OktoRed and Cocky Balboa aliases, and into the shadowy realm of Marshall Applewhite. Under the Applewhite alias, and alongside co-conspirator The Friend, he has amassed over 200 original tracks and edits, of which a select few have seen releases on YoSucka!, How To Kill and Senseless Neon.

Evading conventional classification, Applewhite terms his music Sludge, a suitably low-slung description of the raw, extra-terrestrial techno that emerges from his studio. Featuring 7 cuts only previously available on vinyl, the 12 tracks of  ‘Leave Earth’ play to the LP’s name, exploring otherworldly themes of darkness and light, from industrial, black-hole acid to melodic, hi-tech soul. Detroit is never far from the touchstone, with sedated echoes of Underground Resistance and Drexciya ever present.

Resistance is futile from the outset, with the armoured drums and robotic vocal demands of opening track ‘In Need of Control’ showing the listener who is in charge. ‘Barry Rollins’ begins the ascent through the earth’s atmosphere, balancing wild 303s and soaring synths, before levelling out into the drug-induced chug of ‘Dimension 8’. ‘Dimension 10’ delivers an acid-tinged, percussive stomp that carves a path for the slo-mo, sci-fi electro of ‘Majestic 12’.

Applewhite’s descent into ‘Dimension 6’ brings back the 303s and with them renewed energy. The curiously titled ‘Dr Weatherbee’ breathes even more life into the journey, with its uplifting keys and twinkling moments of melodic funk, while the gargling machine freak-out ‘Smash’ is a precursor to the dreamy, intergalactic voyage that is ‘Space Boys’. ‘Burn’ is a quirky, acidic excursion that gives way to the industrial weight of ‘United Consumer’, before the album closes on ‘Lying Down On The Coats’, a haunted techno march that puts a final, melancholic twist on Applewhite’s trip into the cosmos.