Maltine appears to not be huge on celebration. The Internet label hit 100 releases recently, but skipped over it in favor of diving right into release number 101. Some labels probably would have celebrated such a moment with lists and look backs and all sorts of other features. Maltine had an unrelated live event in Kyoto and then got back to work releasing all-over-the-place electronic music. For them, it makes sense – the artists contributing to Maltine move in so many directions at once that stopping for rest let alone reflection seems counter intuitive.
Though, in a strange way, this release (name translates to Amusement Park, as the MS Paint-tastic artwork above hints at) does a great job of showing off the many angles of Maltine. Stylistically, this one is everywhere at once – sometimes they flirt with techno wooshiness, but make sure to fuse it to something resembling the squeaky terror of Hamster Dance. Amusement Park touch on reggae at one point, and on album highlight “Rokusuke Inc” drum ‘n’ bass gets fused with what could very well be the same keyboards prevalent on Zomby’s Where Were U In ’92?. The entire thing is a head trip, styes sharply turning into new styles mid song, this hodgepodge somehow working just right. Forget a best of, this free album captures the spirit of Maltine at 100 releases perfectly. Get it here.