Reel By Real – Surkit (1990)

Just when you thought there weren’t any more Detroit techno producers waiting to be rediscovered, along comes 20 Years Of Surkit: A Real By Real Retrospective.

It’s an expanded reissue of Surkit, a classic EP by Marty Bonds made under the name Reel By Real, re-mastered by Redshape and presented by Mojuba sub-label A.R.T.less across two 12″s. The first pressing comes in a limited edition of 109 hand-numbered grey marbled vinyls with handmade sleeves.

The original EP was released as a white label by Interface Records, a division of Metroplex, and it stands comparison with the work of Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins and Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir, all of whom were friends and affiliates of Bonds; Shake actually teamed up with Bonds for one of the tracks on Surkit, the aptly named ‘Serene’, while Atkins contributes additional strings to ‘Vessels In Distress’.

The music itself is Detroit techno at its most luxuriant and affecting, combining tough, complex drum programming with soaring pads and face-melting counter-melodies. The unbelievable title track ‘Surkit 1990 (Original Version)’ reminds us of early Carl Craig and Saunderson’s work as E-Dancer, while the Atkins-assisted ‘Vessels In Distress’ is an exhilarating take on the Metroplex aesthetic and ‘Distance’ broaches bleepier electro territory. Hardened Detroit heads will already have the measure of this brilliant work but for us hitherto unfamiliar mortals A.R.T.Less’s reissue is a revelation.

20 Years of Surkit: A Reel By Real Retrospective is out now. For more information and samples, click here.

Tracklist:
Part A/B
1. Surkit 1990 (original version)
2. Vessels In Distress
3. Sundog
Part C/D
1. Distance
2. Surkit (1991 I-102 version)
3. Serene