Massively prolific producer Luke Vibert’s latest release, Chicago, Detroit, Redruth, is only my second taste of his work, the first being an inspired purchase of 2004’s Sorry I Make You Lush under the Wagon Christ banner. In the past, Vibert’s many aliases have also served as neat containers for different modus operandi—Wagon Christ, for example, finds its roots in hip-hop and ambient, while Plug leans towards drum ‘n bass, and that’s just two of his better known identities. The man has suffered from split personalities for more than a decade now, though I’m sure his fan base is suffering through the extended instability rather well, thank you.

Even “Luke Vibert,” ostensibly his real name, is an alias of sorts; acid house and techno is the name of the game for Luke Vibert releases. An interesting choice, given that Vibert’s first love was apparently hip-hop. (Wagon Christ is a good name, though, so let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.) Chicago, Detroit, Redruth is Vibert’s third album as “himself,” and comparing it to my only other frame of reference, I’d say that the elements I loved about Wagon Christ are still there, but muted—namely the sense of humour, the creative use of samples and the ability to lay down a solid groove. The sampling, in this case, hurts Vibert a bit—”God” is a decent chillout track that’s completely overwhelmed by loud and, frankly, annoying vocal samples. Luckily we get “Breakbeat Metal Music” and a machine MC to pick up the slack.

While we don’t get anything quite as uplifting as “Shadows” or outright goofy as “The Funnies,” the two tendencies fuse together to give us opener “Comfycozy,” a sprightly opener that doesn’t much resemble the rest of the album’s darker territory. Luckily, Vibert does remember to bring the solid beats, especially with the one-two closing punch of “Chicago, Detroit, Redruth” and “Swet.” Sorry I Make You Lush was good enough to get me to consider buying more of Vibert’s work; Chicago, Detroit, Redruth isn’t quite good enough to convince me I made the right decision, but I probably wouldn’t turn down the chance to buy his next major release. Or, I guess, his fifth next major release, since I’ve probably missed about five between 2004 and now.