Cosmic Traveler - Blackploid [CPU01100000]

Label: Central Processing Unit

Although he never confirmed it when he launched the project in 2006, Blackploid is an electro-fired alternative alias of sometime International Deejay Gigolos artist Martin Mastike - and not, as some speculated all those years ago, a Drexciya side project. You can see why some would have thought Blackploid to be a Drexciya product though. This surprise EP for Sheffield's CPU Records is full of Drexciyan tropes, with three out of the four tracks delivering the kind of high-grade, sci-fi-fuelled electro brilliance that we've long associated with the legendary Detroit outfit.

Highlights include the thrusting, bleep-heavy brilliance of 'Night Drive', the surging, space disco-influenced heaviness of 'Night Drive' and the raw, angular techno stomp of opener 'Electric Engine'.