Having started out recording on four-track tape equipment before going on to make his hard drive spin under his Point B alias, Richard Bultitude keeps the spirit of the bedroom beat alive on his debut album. A few heady moments, such as on the bustling standout "Split", recall the early days of intelligent Techno, which is no bad thing. Such periods of rapid progress have a tendency to dispose of themselves all too quickly. Sorting through it all after the fact takes skill, patience and a sensitive memory.

Meaty cuts of dancehall programming plagued by glitches are the basis of Point B's A Previous Version of Myself. Richard Bultitude pays tribute to many but copies none, his deep-set Autechre beats expanding and contracting over gentle brushstrokes of DJ Shadow's creative instrumentation.

Carefully constructed mechanistic beats are layered over electronic sounds to form a startlingly simple but infinitely successful album. Figure incorporates twisted vocal samples and is satisfyingly glitch-ridden while Stg picks up the tempo with bass and breaks mingling to a heavy acid influenced apex. The final track Negated barely slows the pace to gently bring your heart rate back to normal, proving that Bultitude isn't all about the beats.

Tracks are varied and interesting with tasty beats and moreish bass, and although swamped in a genre overrun, Point B still deserves to get his name heard. If only for his skill and dexterity in producing programming like this.
By Jennifer Allan

POINT B
Cutouts Scsi-Av
****
Music should entertain, but it also has a duty to challenge the listener and listening to 'Cutouts' it's clear that Point B wants to make his audience scratch their heads in amazement rather than beat them into submissive euphoria. Inspired by Autechre and Presfuse 73 as much as electro and jungle, 'Figure' and 'Cantra' combine glitchy stop-start hip hop beats with gloriously haunting melody lines, while the twitchy breaks of 'The Moving Parts' plunge the deepest recesses of tortured bass aggression. It's unlikely to appear on an Azuli compliation anytime, but right now we need more records like 'Cutouts'.

English Scsi-Av is known for dark classical neo-electro - but here comes new recruit Point B with hip-hop cuts that really pump, and which update the label's technological sound. Even if it's in the same vain as Prefuse it reminds me rather of the good old Gescom days. Yep.
Deutsch Noch so ein Label, aus dem ich nicht mehr schlau werde. Eigentlich bekannt für darken, klassischen Neo-Elektro, kommt Point B hier auf Scsi-Av mit hiphoppigen Cutup-Tracks, die ordentlich pumpen und dem Label so etwas wie ein soundtechnologisches Update verpassen. Auch wenn alle Prefuse sagen werden ... mich erinnert es eher an gute, alte Gescom-Tage. Yep.

Bultitude typically coats his squashed and pulverized tracks with layers of grime and sometimes changes it up by incorporating acoustic drumming. Throughout the set’s nine pieces, he spins convincing variations on electronic be-bop, whether it’s the wiry android funk of “Figure” or the off-kilter loping funk of “Fixed Messages.” When it’s electro patterns pulsate over skittish breaks, “Split”, suggests a summit meeting between Plaid and Solarium while the writhes and hiccups of “Cantra” reveal Autechre’s influence most conspicuously. The penultimate “I Used to Hold Things Close might be the best thing here, with Bultitude boldly slathering grime and detonating ripples over a ruminative electric bass- led meditation.

This debut album from Point B starts softly, then kicks in with a bang. Split provides the first jolt of electro, with some definite Autechre influences. An evil music box joins in near the end. 'In Time I Will' has more of a jazzy feel, with prominent drums, dramatic bass, and squelchy static. It reminds me of Tipper. 'Glint' on the other hand, features a fast, rattling beat with atonal electronic accompaniment. A few of the albums middle tracks are non-descript, but 'Stg' stands out. Weird warbling bass provides an original sound, and theres even some scratching. It all breaks down with bells in the second half. 'I Used to Hold Things Close' is slow and meandering IDM. It's a departure from what I normally associate with SCSI-AV. Point B's style is somewhat indistinct, but there are some nice moments here. 'A Previous Version of Myself' should make for pleasant, hazy summer listening.
Jacob Arnold

Point B
Fictionary ep Orson
****
Following his remix of Transparent Sound's 'Freaks Frequency', Point B flies solo with this dark and experimental take on dancefloor breaks. The pervy title track features the sound of a female orgasm over funky electro-breaks. 'King cirrus' fuses Aphex or Squarepusher's reckless sense of breakbeat abandon with epic Red Planet soundscapes and 'Erosion' ends the EP in style with a night drive to the sonic alleyways once inhabited by Model 500.