Don't Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP by Fear E

Fear E returns to Zone Music with a four-track EP in tribute to the late great Andrew Weatherall, entitled Don't Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP.

Photo by Scott McKay

Glaswegian Scott McKay aka Fear E makes jacking house, techno, and electro that draws from the raw early sound of Chicago and Detroit. He has done so on revered labels like Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and Dark Entries and serves up fiery DJ sets that are stripped back but high impact. Next to getting plenty of plays on Rinse FM and BBC Radio 1, influential DJs like Ben Sims, Dave Clarke, and the one and only Andrew Weatherall were also fans, which is why Fear E dedicates this EP to the much-missed maestro.

The title of opener "Farewell Swordsman" nods to one of Weatherall's collaborative aliases, while the music is blistering acid techno. It's driven by pounding drums and tinny cowbells as a monstrous 303 tears throughout the whole track. "Once Upon a Time In Midland Street" ups the intensity with twisted metal synths rewiring your brain. More all-consuming drums and hits are supersized and make this another brilliant warehouse banger with bright sci-fi chords.

The superb "Surreal" is a little more stripped back but is dramatic and packed with physicality. It has a pulsing bassline and jacked-up drums taking center stage as tortured synths twist and turn in the spaces left behind. The final dance floor destroyer is "Lunatic Orchestra," urgent techno cut with surging synths that speak of a dystopian future world.

The "Don't Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP" is not only a title Weatherall would approve of, but also a collection of no-nonsense music he would surely love.

Fear E - Don't Let The Grubby Little Opportunists Get You Down EP
Release Date December 2021
Label Zone Music

Tracklist
1. Farewell Swordsman
2. Once Upon a Time in Midland Street
3. Surreal
4. Lunatic Orchestra