Forest Drive West
Mantis 1920
Delsin
It’s hard to believe that Joe Baker’s first record as Forest Drive West only came out in 2016. Ten years is a long time in dance music, sure, but when that first 12-inch dropped on Livity Sound offshoot Dnuos Ytivil, it sounded like the work of someone who had spent their life meticulously chiseling kick drums. Since then, Baker has gone on to create an incredibly impressive catalog, crafting the sort of new-school UK techno that borrows liberally from the bass continuum. His signature is treating empty space with as much care as he does synth programming, and on his new double pack for Delsin, Mantis 1920, he’s in a particularly dark mood. Though the record moves across his usual wide-ranging palette of techno, breakbeats and ambient atmospherics, the music itself is brooding and dense.
For those that like Baker at higher tempos, “Uromastyx” is a nasty piece of work. A half-time stepper made in tandem with Patrick Russell, the tune gets more and more claustrophobic as its loose, hand-drum breaks are surrounded by gurgling bass and ominous clangs. “Node” works with a similar palette, but is somehow even more barren, with layers of feedback consuming its upper ranges as Baker’s snares emit all the warmth of a Patagonian ice field. Austere breakbeats are also at the core of “Plane” (a collaboration with DB1) and the slightly funkier “Vector,” while the chuggy “Circuit” features synths that fizzle like uninsulated electric wires.
It’s tempting to call Mantis 1920 FDW-core, but it’s ultimately just the latest solid offering from a project that’s been quietly shaping the techno spectrum for a decade now. In 2026, traces of Baker’s sound are everywhere—for proof, just check out the latest releases from Timedance or Livity Sound—but even so, no one does it quite like he does.
 |
|