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This EP from Mike Monday and Will Saul is sneaky; it doesn't make much impression upon first listen but over time makes its presence strongly felt. The stripped back, gear heavy three-tracker is ragged and rough around the edges in many spots on all three tracks. Showing obvious signs this release was a loose studio jam session between two inspired players gives it an energy that carries it beyond the competition.

"Sequence I" has a great old school rawness to it that passes by unnoticed the first time around. The synth stabs are not tight and get overly busy giving it that Pro Tools edited jam effect that seems a bit canned and forced. The track does build nicely with amazing muted kick drums and ringing hi-hats that can only come from a Roland 909. A Kaos Pad and Dave Smith Polyevolver handle the rest of the sounds and sequences for a track that is restrained and minimal in the most textbook sense of the word. At the same time, "Sequence I" is warm and full; sounding like two living, breathing human beings making music. It is a nice sense of juxtaposition allowing for a balanced EP overall.

"Small Moments" has a cute, almost novelty, piano hook as an introduction. It doesn't work at first, but as the track evolves into a wall-of-synth breakdown that line becomes a gentle life raft to help carry listeners through a middle portion that flirts with bland progressive house. Gentle melodies on the backside of the track add, rather than subtract as the original piano line pulls things back together at the end of the jam. It's a nice touch that gives a rather basic track some cheap thrills.

The ubiquitous Scuba seems to make the rounds in the singles world to add some tricky time signatures and current artist hype to the EP. Scuba's remix of "Sequence" apes the original far too much adding some slick break beats and the required amount of Hotflush deepness. Unfortunately, this track would be fresher and cooler if there weren't already a hundred other ones just like it. In this case, overexposure is not a good thing. It does make for a decent bookend to an otherwise sparkling new release but the good stuff on here can be found in the originals themselves.

Artist: Will Saul & Mike Monday Title: Sequence 1 EP Label: Aus Music Tracklist Sequence 1 Small Moments Sequence 1 (Scuba Remix) www.ausmusic.co.uk www.myspace.com/willsaul www.mikemonday.com Our Rating: 7,5/10