Nick Ray, a.k.a. Speculator, is not sampling and compiling like he once did on the Lifestyle cassette, but on “Blue Rose” the influence is one giant black transmission of Joy Divisionism. Can't hate it though, it's just one song at the end of an LP that warps kraut-rock, tape hisses through 80's popism, sticks to walls of icky, noisey reverb and revs up on Suicide-wave. Speculator's Nice LP is a dissertation on everything cool, weird and hip we wanna swing dance to as though we have relevant nostalgia and it's also a mesmerizing pop record worthy of a swing dance for dancing's sake – nevermind the nostalgia bollocks.
The entire LP is streaming at Altered Zones.
The Nice LP is out on vinyl August 30 on Underwater Peoples.
