Best of 2020
As with the previous E/N 12", they're calling this one an EP, but that may possibly underplay the breadth and ambition of what's on show here. Minus Objects comprises nine tracks (labelled One through Nine) across 24 minutes, though it could essentially be understood as one long-form piece defined by nine movements. As the title might suggest, it's what they choose to leave out (it's the notes they don't play, maaaan) which defines Mosquitoes approach. Past releases have drawn comparisons with the anti-formalism of no wave iconoclasts Mars and post-punk outliers This Heat, though i also hear a lot of the scorched earth 90s underground. There's less RTX here than I've previously stressed (less any sense of rock formalism tbh), as they move more towards the near-beatless minimalist abstractions of Labradford, The Necks, Jim O'Rourke's turns on Goodbye 20th Century and even elements of Pan Sonic (Object Minus Eight really reminded me of Haiti). Is this what post-rock was meant to mean? As in, what comes AFTER rock? Whatever, this is bold as brass music making that i'm used to originating a long way from these shores. But here it is in London and it's something to be cherished.
