File Tomorrow Knows Another among those albums that I more or less like but need to take in well-regulated doses. Tkatka, the duo of PJ Norman and Carlsson, come at us with a high intensity, sometimes confusing, reasonably infectious batch of mutated techno in a hit-or-miss collection. When it hits, it’s a nice, solid blow. “NMO” is the first, and also happens to be first track where I don’t think I ought to be moving along. Field recordings of birds mix with a guitar-like tone at the outset before strong bass chords and an easy beat roll in to create a must-hear blend of dynamics. A break at the mid-point leads to a shift in tone and a change of course. The beat becomes more complex–and thus, grabs you a bit more–and the whole thing cranks up in intensity for its last few minutes. “Reverse Parapsychology” is seven big minutes of thumping, whirling, club-ready joy. A suitably high beat rate, clicking glitch sounds beneath, and a spacey melody with workable lounge cred keep it moving along nicely. Irresistible. “Attack or Defend” leaps into your ears with a chipset sound library, crunchy 8-bit-style stuff that then smooths out to a cooler flow. What misses for me are the tracks where the duo re-purpose what sounds like propaganda film music–stuff with an odd, militaristic feel. “Youth Mor(t)ality Tale” and “Act/React” come away like borderline exercises in plunderphonics that never really take off.

Norman and Carlsson know what they’re doing. The production quality on any tKatKa album is solid. This album is just a bit uneven for me. I’ll keep it on hand for shuffling purposes; its often frantic energy can be a nice boost.

Available from 100M Records.