Sepalcure – S/T (2011) [Hot Flush] // Grade: A

The electronic music landscape is littered with ad hoc duos, like-minded producers for whom collaboration and experimentation is a way of life. The sum is not always greater than the parts, the pairings better on paper than on record.

This is not the case for Sepalcure, on their self-titled LP. Travis Stewart (Machinedrum) and Praveen Sharma (Braille) are a natural fit, with Stewart’s paranoid, footwork-inspired beats contrasted against Sharma’s lush soundscapes. Sepalcure fuses together the trending topics of bass music – 90s rave revivalism and R&B obsession, among others – into a time capsule of forward-thinking dance music circa 2011.

The LP has a habit of lulling the listener with gentle synths, breathy samples, and syncopated beats, before changing the script into something different entirely. That’s the trick they pull on “The One,” as soulful UK funky gives way to throwback stabs, themselves overtaken when the beat doubles back on itself underneath classic house pronouncements. “Breezin” does the same, starting in wonky territory before melting into swirling diva house. With Sepalcure, you don’t just get two artists for the price of one, you get (at least) two songs for the price of one.

The homage to the 90s is not as obvious as Where Were U in 92? or anything by Chrissy Murderbot, but the lilting vocal lines and rave accents are there, occasionally emerging from the purple fog (“Pencil Pimp,” “Hold On”). But as the album progresses, it favors the future, with the juked drum lines of footwork. “Yuh Nuh See” puts the bass in future bass with a round low end melody, but is choppy and halting like footwork: Chicago 1980 meets Chicago 2010.

The beauty of bass music is how hungry for the future – yet reverent of the past – its best artists are. As individuals, Stewart and Sharma have exhibited the duality. As Sepalcure, they perfect it.

- Chris Kelly