Spit

As universally praised as Ron Morelli's L.I.E.S. imprint has been over the past few years, the headstrong DJ hasn't pressed many of his own productions, aside from low-key collaborations with Steve Summers (Two Dogs in a House) and white-label one-offs like Bad News and U-202. He's not about to switch gears now, as the first record cut under his own name—Spit, an impromptu transmission for Hospital Productions—reveals a fast-and-loose approach to foggy synth lines and brittle sample banks. Sure enough, Morelli had a month free to make what he broadly defines as "stress music," so he did. Plain and simple. The paranoia and pain involved here is quite palpable, too, from cut-and-dry pressure cookers (tellingly titled "Sledghammer II" and "Slow Drown") to hints of techno and house that suck all the fun from the dancefloor ("Modern Paranoia," "No Real Reason," "Crack Microbes"). What did you expect from someone who recently curated a L.I.E.S. compilation called Music for Shut-Ins?