Bicep
Belfast duo Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson began as record collectors and DJs, launching the Feel My Bicep blog in 2008 to catalogue lost disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno and Italo edits while living apart. That curatorial obsession fed productions that made old-rave nostalgia sound contemporary: a warm, wistful strain of breakbeat, house and melodic techno. Their 2017 self-titled debut for Ninja Tune spun off 'Glue,' a breakbeat lament that became a modern club standard, while 2021's 'Isles' and its single 'Apricots' pushed toward widescreen, chorally textured electronica. Live, they translate the records into an immersive light-and-sound show. The through-line is emotion: euphoric builds shadowed by melancholy, pop feeling delivered without vocals or obvious hooks.
Bicep have repeatedly been likened to Orbital, and coverage of their debut noted its shades of Orbital's euphoric melodic techno; the pair are drawn to the emotional, build-driven side of early-1990s British electronica. It shows up in Bicep's habit of layering a plaintive, repeating melodic figure over a breakbeat and letting it slowly bloom rather than drop.
listen forPut 'Halcyon + On + On' next to 'Apricots' — both ride a bright, looping melodic phrase over a swung breakbeat, withholding the full payoff until the melody has circled long enough to ache.
In interviews about their listening the duo single out Aphex Twin as having 'really stood the test of time,' and their debut's more emotive, ambient passages have been traced to the mood of 'Selected Ambient Works.' The influence is textural rather than rhythmic: intricate, melancholy melodic lines and detuned synth pads.
listen forSet 'Xtal' beside 'Aura' — both carry the track on a wistful, slightly detuned lead melody laced through a soft, hazy bed of synths, prizing feeling over any obvious hook.
Bicep have spoken about listening to Boards of Canada extensively, and their warmer material shares the Scottish duo's love of nostalgic, sun-faded analogue tones. It surfaces as a hazy, half-remembered quality — detuned, tape-worn synth pads that feel like a memory rather than a present sound.
listen forPlay 'Roygbiv' then 'Opal' — both wrap a simple, wistful synth motif in warm, slightly wobbly analogue texture, more concerned with mood and warmth than momentum.