“...i feel that we are in a digital prison...and we cannot escape without taking action that is unorthodox.” jpls Though borne out of experimentation each track on the combination ep has been completed with the DJ firmly in mind. The thick, textured grooves and rhythms are all carefully crafted while the subliminal melodies and progressions keep the brain fully occupied, offering seamless mix opportunities in the process. Aficionados of the jpls sound will already be aware of his strict production ethos and dogmatic approach to electronic music and like everything he does, there are multiple, interacting concepts at work on the combinat ion ep. Motivated by feelings of imprisonment brought on by the frequency content of most of his devices and synths, JPLS has been exploring ways to overcome these limitations. By overlaying sounds at relatively long delays to instil a ‘non standard’ harmonic content into his music, he’s managed to wrestle control back from the machines. As a result, these tracks represent his attempts to escape the confines of current technology and push into the future… The slow, lumbering groove of combination 01 houses a spectacular box of tricks including a continuously mangled vocal sample. At nigh on 12 minutes, it’s a highly ambitious and perfectly realised piece of sonic sculpture - as deep and cinematic, as it is long. After the refreshing weightlessness of the A side, the beats kick in with a vengeance over on the flip. The minimal groove drives forward into infinity as combinat ion 02 returns to more familiar territory. Hypnotic in the extreme, the luminous, repetitive note continually folds in on the trails it leaves as JPLS subtly tweaks the pitch control creating the sensation of travelling without moving. For sheer dancefloor pressure combinat ion 03 pushes all the right buttons with a loose, curious groove underpinned by a sumptuous sub bassline. Looping melodies dive and circle overhead as the snare gently drifts out of view before returning with added urgency to propel the track onwards to its conclusion. Dark, messed-up acid prevails as the release moves from vinyl into cyberspace. On combination 04 the rumbling beats shift and contort through several contrasting soundscapes accompanied by funky percussive elements that add a certain swagger to the groove. Meanwhile the tight–knit 303 lines fight for superiority, merging and colliding as they slide relentlessly across the frequency spectrum. combination 05 occupies the same ground as 01 albeit with a fuller rhythm section. The half time kick drum invites the sub bass to do most of the talking while an elusive, piped motif skips and ring shifts with growing complexity across the dark, sprawling, skyline recalling the odd, alternate reality that lies at the heart of 2007’s Twilite project. Another one for the purists, combinat ion 06 contains a pivotal middle section that demonstrates perhaps the clearest example of the theories at work here. The bass frequencies resonate together discordantly as they slowly warp up and down against the classic techno beats, grafting the past onto the present to create a disorienting blanket of sound.