EeOo - We Are All The Same

Ian McDonnell’s IDM leanings have long been apparent. Like the early masters of the form, The Dubliner’s duo Lakker has a tendency to flit between different subspecies of techno, treating each with an ear for adventurous sound design, finicky detail and occasionally poignant melody. In his solo work as Eomac, which is often more abrasive and melodic, the influence is even more evident (the title of his Trilogy Tapes EP Hither, Pappy is a play on Aphex Twin’s “Come To Daddy“). The Workout EP finds McDonnell working under a new alias, EeOo, and for yet another a new label, Unknown To The Unknown. His source material is slightly different, too: most of these tracks take early ’90s rave as their starting points. His methodology, however, remains the same: in each case he abstracts and intensifies these familiar signifiers into fiddly and faintly absurd new shapes. “Battery Baby“ is noxious peaktime material, its gooey, Mentasm-like synths oozing over a boisterous techno