- Tin Man and Donato Dozzy are no strangers to the Acid Test series. The former is arguably the master of the melancholic 303 aesthetic that has become its trademark; the latter graced Acid Test 01 with a masterly reworking of "Nonneo," as well as contributing an original—the fittingly nocturnal "In Bed"—to the series. This, however, is the first time the pair have entered the studio together, and whoever thought up the collaboration should be commended. Across three tracks, the deeper hypnotics of Dozzy are perfectly tempered by Tin Man's more direct melodicism, making for one of the finest Acid Test records to date.
In places it's tempting to pick apart the two distinct aesthetics. The languid, quietly addictive 303 at the centre of "Test 7," for example, is surely Tin Man's doing, while the artful pad work that steadily blooms around it could be Dozzy. But this sort of taxonomy does a disservice to the way these elements blend into a gorgeous whole; inasmuch as there is an Acid Test template, this one nails it in fine fashion. "Test 2" sinks deeper, cutting loose from a kick drum pulse to drift in that abyssal part of the ocean where all the fish look weird. Just two synth figures feature—one of them another mournful Tin Man 303 line—wheeling and shimmering gracefully over eight minutes. By contrast, "Test 3" is light-dappled and tentatively hopeful. Dozzy's fingerprints are most visible here—the groove is little more than an entrancing flicker of tiny sounds with gorgeous delay trails.
トラックリストA Test 7
B1 Test 2
B2 Test 3