Biography
British techno stalwarts James Ruskin and Mark Broom pursue more experimental ground under the Fear Ratio moniker, merging splintered IDM beats with weighty low-end pulses. Launching the alias in 2011 via the luminous, crystalline Light Box, the pair kept issuing full-lengths and shorter releases through imprints such as Blueprint, Skam, and Tresor, culminating in the 2022 arrival of Slinky.
Since the 2000s, Ruskin and Broom had already worked together on techno cuts and reworkings credited to their primary identities. Seeking to sidestep standard techno and house frameworks, they placed their initial Fear Ratio album, Light Box, on Ruskin’s own Blueprint imprint that same year. The “Morning Blues” single carried alternate versions from Deadhand—the duo’s separate hip-hop endeavor—and from Plaid. Skana, another EP, surfaced in 2012. Refuge of a Twisted Soul landed on the IDM cult favorite Skam in 2015, while a limited 10" from the pair inaugurated the label’s Kasm series. Live E.P. followed in 2018, and the third album, They Can't Be Saved, emerged in 2020.
Meanwhile, the duo’s debut Deadhand full-length appeared on Seagrave in 2021, with verses supplied by Sensational, cuts by Prime Cuts, and a rework by Etch. Slinky, the Fear Ratio’s fourth album, further developed their hip-hop leanings through guest appearances by King Kashmere of Strange U. Released on the Berlin techno institution Tresor, the record came paired with an hour-long mixtape of fragments, sketches, and loops called Ratio Sound Trials.
Since the 2000s, Ruskin and Broom had already worked together on techno cuts and reworkings credited to their primary identities. Seeking to sidestep standard techno and house frameworks, they placed their initial Fear Ratio album, Light Box, on Ruskin’s own Blueprint imprint that same year. The “Morning Blues” single carried alternate versions from Deadhand—the duo’s separate hip-hop endeavor—and from Plaid. Skana, another EP, surfaced in 2012. Refuge of a Twisted Soul landed on the IDM cult favorite Skam in 2015, while a limited 10" from the pair inaugurated the label’s Kasm series. Live E.P. followed in 2018, and the third album, They Can't Be Saved, emerged in 2020.
Meanwhile, the duo’s debut Deadhand full-length appeared on Seagrave in 2021, with verses supplied by Sensational, cuts by Prime Cuts, and a rework by Etch. Slinky, the Fear Ratio’s fourth album, further developed their hip-hop leanings through guest appearances by King Kashmere of Strange U. Released on the Berlin techno institution Tresor, the record came paired with an hour-long mixtape of fragments, sketches, and loops called Ratio Sound Trials.
Albums
Singles
