Shinetiac are 3 friends, working together, but divided between Philly, Brooklyn and Berlin. Infiltrating Roku City is their sophomore set for West Mineral Ltd. The album takes its title from the American streaming giant, which they immersed themselves in for inspiration. Saturated, and sampling, “hacking into” a constant, channeling hopping collision of crazy content from all corners. The press release reads like something from William Gibson’s Neuromancer or Burning Chrome. 

Harmonic hums, deep drones, and a woozy, warm, womb-like bass wow and flutter characterises the production, but of the ten tunes, it was Purelink that first caught my attention. I, hopefully rightly, assumed that this is a tribute to the acclaimed, chilled Chicago collective of the same name. They certainly sound similar. A morphing, mutating, meditative dub, the track shape-shifts as if it were an electronic organism. Shrinking and expanding, pulsating as if it were breathing. Its beats, muffled slo-mo explosions. Ringing with reverb and sugared with strange, slithering whispers, the results are a little like a more techno Seekersinternational. Other reference points are Synkro and Klangkollektor. 

It’s Billie, though, I bet, that’s gonna be most folks’ focus. Here, a wordless sigh from Ms. Ellish is looped and stretched out into a 6-minute, ethereal float. Pretty chimes, that blink like red, warning Tokyo skyscraper lights, like the sleeping city’s heartbeat, serenading the now spectral pop star. 

That said, the standout for me is actually Highway. Imagine Brock Van Wey’s masterpiece, White Clouds Drift On & On  rolling by on a muted breakbeat. Racing but relaxed, with glitched crackles suggesting changing weather, while the dense, detailed design, a sort of dubbed-out IDM, paints pictures of beautiful, colourful scenery speeding by in a blur. The trio fashioning a fluid funk from this fractured, collaged construction. 

Shinetiac’s Infiltrating Roku City can be ordered directly from West Mineral Ltd.