1-speed bike is the electro alter-ego of aidan girt, drummer for the montréal-based bands exhaust and godspeed you black emperor! from its humble beginnings on an ancient 12-bit akai sampler, 1-speed bike progressed towards new and improved resolution on his debut full-length, while maintaining a decidedly punk irreverence and ramshackle aesthetic. first heard on the 3 remixes interspersed throughout the self-titled exhaust record (cst004), 1-speed bike beat manipulations are characterised by live drum phrases that pulse & breathe with organic dynamism, chopped & looped to form the backbone for melodic passages that range from the irreverent to the sublime.

alternating between humour and homage, droopy butt begone! opens with a medley of 80ú? techno/hip-hop references (shameless filtered synth swells, bpm doubling, scratch samples and a shout-out dedication of sorts), giving way to delicate glockenspiel underpinned by head-bobbing beats on track 2. track 3 is a kinetic remix of fly pan am, who were simultaneously at work on their new e.p.(cst011) in the same studio space at hotel2tango. this remix ends with resonant tones & drones that introduce the heart of the record; slow loping beats ebb & flow around a beautiful palette of melodic figures and harmonic buzzes & whirrs on track 4; a sustained hip-hop groove anchors the playful sample stew of track 5 and flows seamlessly into the house-inflected beat workouts on track 6. it all culminates in the exuberant final piece, which closes with the anarcho-poetic-cum-toliet-humour rant of the man himself. dark atmospherics and shimmering melodies bind these tracks throughout, played against various whimsical touches sure to please those with an appreciation of the inherent disposability and trash-can aesthetics of sample-mad musics.