After the release of his debut album, Machine Make Noise, Harvey McKay is at the top of a new school of young artists emerging from Glasgows thriving underground club circuit. With a drummer for a father, he was constantly exposed to rhythm, even in his days in the womb and eventually began his own exploits in primary school at the age of 10. While other kids were busy learning Maths and English, Harvey was cutting about with all the wrong crowds and learning how to mix on his first turntables. It eventually paid off when he earned his first residency in Tin Pin Alley at the less-than-legal age of 16. Making his own music came naturally to Harvey, who uses a set-up of Logic, Cubase, Ableton, Reason and a rather mean Moog to compose his work. He was quickly picked up by Jon Virtue and had his first release on Virtues Artificial Silence label. Since then he has gone on to release on Perc Trax, Cubism, and now Soma, and is soon to feature on Mihalis Safras Material Series amongst others. His influences range from Alex Under, Mark Romboy, James Holden and Soma label-bosses, Slam. Ironically enough, one of Harveys first attempts at production was to recreate the sounds he heard on Slams Alien Radio album, in particular the deep, techy bass frequencies. Machine Make Noise is an album that deserves to be listened to in its entirety with its clean, crisp and bass-heavy frequencies that prick the ears instantly. Although the sounds and textures used are distinctly minimal in nature, Harvey deliberately swerves the minimal scene, choosing instead to pad his tracks out to their fullest, falling somewhere in between dark, sinister Electronica and floor-shattering Techno. Machine opens the album with a combination of intimidating bass, and twinkling keys that creates an eerie sounds-scape. An LFO warps the thuggish lo-end and melts into digital distortion. Welcome to Harveys world. Torque then bursts through with a warbling bassline and a confident, punching kick drum, a trademark of Mr. McKay. Glistening percussion shines through the thick bass and allows the melancholy synth and vocal samples to do their work, breaking down to just the bass and kick drum, the full power of Harveys production is truly felt. After the threatening and loutish behaviour of Torque, Output welcomes us with an optimistic off-beat synth, while snapping and terse fills compliment reverberating snare hits. This is real dance-floor matter that captures Harveys distinct sound and groove. Reflection takes the foot off the gas a little, and allows one to take a breath. A discordant synth reverses back on its self, creating swirling and dizzying effects that lead to an unnerving bass-line and subtly delayed highs. The brief Bad Trip lends itself to a nightmarish landscape of buzzing bass and whizzing effects. Pitched voices go beyond words creating quite apocalyptic imagery. Setting the tone with haunting pads and a whip-like snare, Analog Freek leaps in with gnarling lo-end bass, a high-pitched ride cymbal and glitched-out percussion. One of the most powerful tracks on Machine Make Noise. 5am pushes forward with driving bass, effect raddled toms and panning woodblocks, all while a ducking synth-line slithers its way through the viscous lo-end. Enter 69. The Track that captured Somas attention from the get-go. To say this grabs by the balls is an understatement. A ripping synth/bass-line tears through the murky beats and bleeps of 69, and creates waves of raw Techno. Not one for the faint-hearted! After the abrasiveness of 69, Laconic lures the listener into a false sense of security, with playful synth stabs that delicately dance around until a tripped out vocal comes into the mix. From then, this playful synth flips into a distorting and grinding noise, and then back again into its more docile side. Retro, as the name describes, refers back to some of Harveys influences and puts an updated twist on some well aged, yet fundamental ideas. Concluding is the beautiful Life, another poignant insight into Harveys musical mind. From beginning to end, this album scares, invigorates and moves. Enjoy.