Available on: Big Dada 12″

While undoubtedly tied to the formally-known-as-wonky wave of producers making hip-hop with a penchant for loose drums and lurid synths, Offshore, whose last release came on Stuff, one of the labels that would later form Numbers, has gone off on his own path, signing an album deal with Big Dada and honing a mournful, archaic sound of his own.

Aneurysm marks his first full release for Dada, and it is very Scottish. Offshore’s originally from the Scottish coast city of Aberdeen, three hours North of Glasgow and much hillier, with long winters and a community of oil rig workers, which I guess is where the offshore name comes from. The melodies here are distinctly Aberdonian, made from the same sort of fizzing synths as Rustie or James Blake but greyed out in the cold, huddling together for heat. They sway like the skewed architecture of the city’s harbour, with a resigned, but positive feel to them. Music that’s humble and imperfect, and all the better for it.

Tom Lea