Artist: Nubreed
Title: Qurious EP
Label: MOB Records
By: Simon Jones | 25 January 2004
Tracklist:

• A1: Qurious
• B1: Short Key
• B2: Futureproof

Nubreed "Qurious EP"

With the UK release of NuBreed's 'The Original' having come and gone, backed by the release of the 'Bring The Sound EP', the focus now shifts to the trio's native Australia where the album is set to be released with new tracks and an accompanying second CD to boot. However to tide us over until then comes another EP of tracks from the UK version. Are you 'Qurious'?

'Qurious' is probably one of the most experimental tracks on 'The Original' album, so to see it here headlining the second of the EPs to feature tracks from the longplayer is a welcome sight indeed. An awesome electro breaks groove powers this bass shaking track, with shades of Si Begg creeping into NuBreed's usual tight drums. When Mykel's freestylin vocals are added into the middle of this busy soundscape, things turn messy and you can guarantee that this will have everyone wigging out on the dancefloor with its twisted bass and trippy sounds.

'Shortkey' sees some vocoder filters come into play, as Mykel's vocals get stripped down and given a futuristic shine, with some old skool eletronic rhythms and ambient chords forming a funky melodic groove that shimmers in odd and quirky fashion with the big bass synths changing things up as we move along. This vibe is carried over into 'Futureproof', a broken beat ambient track that highlights a deeper, more precision side to NuBreed's usual industrial sound. Swelling beats and superb use of delay effects make the groove sound like it's developing like an alien lifeform, with a tempo change halfway through infusing some extra emotion to the track's vocal hook. A perfect end to this experimental EP.

Crafted with the dancefloor in mind, this EP focuses on the more experimental sounds that NuBreed produce, a far cry from the big vocal numbers that grace their sets at events such as Australia's Two Tribes Festival, but proves there is more to this trio than meets the eye.