Bleep

After slowly building up a name alongside the rest of the fellow Glaswegian creative pool that includes Hudson Mohawke, and the Numbers and LUCKYME® collectives, Rustie dazzled the music world with his first full-length release for Warp Records. Glass Swords took shape after two years in the studio, with Rustie developing an invigorating sound that was uniquely his, euphorically embracing digital instruments while predating the initiation of PC Music and the characteristic gloss of hyperpop. Over a decade later, his comeback single ‘Black Ice Mudra’ reminds of the head spinning gleefulness felt when listening to this album for the very first time.

Upon release in 2011, Glass Swords seemed to evade description. The language to describe an album so jittery with excitement didn’t exist yet, and its influences were too manifold to neatly hyphenate into a snappy genre fusion: 16-bit video-game sonics, Japanese prog-rock, grime, trap, dubstep, trance, Detroit techno...

The title track’s initial burst of noise melting into synth flutters and detuned vocal stabs instantly perks the ears, with an epic guitar solo drumming up anticipation; vintage warmth varnished in a digital sheen. It was clear Rustie had created his own brand of rave music, scintillating and colourful.

What follows is a tracklist drenched in glitter: the chug of slappy MIDI guitars moulded into fizzing, pumping dance pop joyrides, spitfire synths and sirens blazing through spring loaded rhythms, new age-y video game choirs and whimsical electric ocarina melodies swapped for bubblegum grime frenzies. Patiently building to ecstatic heights, ‘Surph’ plays with EDM-adjacent structure, yet with synths squeaking and vocals filtered into refracted light, and a bouncing squarewave bassline lifted an octave into the air. The synths of ‘Ultra Thizz’ surge even further skyward as its beats and stabs embark on a laser tag battle, sheer optimism embodied in dancefloor eruptions.

Glass Swords is a beacon of electronic expression, intense and beaming with creativity.