Modus Operandi

Among the first drum n' bass-centred sonic sculptors to aim beyond dance-floor mastery, Photek (aka Rupert Parkes) creates tracks molded out of intense minimalist moods. MODUS boasts breakbeats with jazz sources and hip-hop structures, and a futurist vision that seeks to leap into the next millennium of rhythm while acknowledging the last twenty years. The best tracks on MODUS OPERANDI follow the trail of a piano trio through Kraftwerk's computer-game melodies, fusion-jazz grooves, and hip-hop's beat orchestration, with each influence taking the lead at various points.
"Hidden Camera" is guided by a skittering drum loop that is the sturdy middle in a conversation between synthetic wind washes and electric piano chords, with a bass propping the whole contraption up. "KJZ" is a percussive and rhythmic explosion. The title-track is an almost Mo' Wax-ian hip-hop affair with a mid-tempo rim-shot groove laid behind a soul-jazz keyboard composition. Transferred to the dance-floor, these tracks could be underground jams of the year. MODUS OPERANDI's ace-in-the-hole is its ability to cross over to the living room.|