Blackploid Star Patrol

After quite a hiatus, Martin Matiske has made up for lost time by producing five 12-inch releases in the past two years and breathing new life into his Blackploid alias. His second EP in less than 12 months for CPU Records is a testament to his recent efforts.

Fans of Matiske’s excellent Cosmic Traveller EP, which featured one of 2021’s stand-out moments ‘Future Activism’, will be pleased to hear he has once again delivered the goods. Although he might not have matched that modern day classic, there’s no doubt the producer has hit a rich vein of form and this EP is a grower.

Matiske delivers more purist-theory electro with a notable European slant in the form of four superbly-mastered tracks on CPU’s eye-catching and now iconic vinyl sleeve, as well as on digital. The EP picks up where the Sheffield-based label left off, with the eighties-sounding title of ‘Star Patrol’ and its vibe that slips somewhere between an electro and European synth-pop groove.

There’s little time to catch your breath as ‘The Signal’ kicks in, with a spiralling sonic signal that projects out into the night sky, along with a methodical but minimal beat and unrepentant bassline. ‘The Unseen’ is every bit as mysterious as it sounds – a futuristic iteration in the ilk of John Carpenter and Goblin’s horror excursions with a dancefloor twist.

Bringing up the rear is ‘Light Corridor’, which has been rinsed through a Detroit car wash and comes out sounding like it’s been hand polished by Juan Atkins and Drexciya, but again very much in the CPU mould. There’s certainly a thread running through Matiske’s new output and he’s clearly been reading and mastering the CPU Records playbook over the last few years.