Photek - Modus Operandi (Science/Virgin) A warning first for those not knowledgeable about Photek, Modus Operandi is, first and foremost, a drum 'n' bass record.
What set the sonic art of Photek - aka Rupert Parkes - apart from the other fill-the-dance hall merchants are the influences he was under, which make his release darker than the work of his peers.
While the mainstream drum 'n' bass releases banked on their hybrids with streetwise dance genres such as hip-hop or reggae, and producing accessible commodities for DJs and bedroom-listeners alike, Modus Operandi sets the precise percussive arrangements, spaced-out atmospherics and tweaking noises of ambient music.
The way Photek leaves the beats and pieces in a rather dry manner, without filtering them through bizarre treatments or throwing in daft effects, also creates a mechanic techno feel.
The combination of the futurist cousins of dance music has produced an eerie record dark in mood and complicated in textures.
Modus Operandi should not be considered an album of 10 tracks; merged together, they should be seen as a suite of 10 parts, unfurling a soundtrack to a bigger picture, set in an age of domineering technology where human activity is deemed irrelevant.