I want to start out by saying you can’t really go wrong if you’re Warp Records. This year alone they’ve peddled some incredible records cherry-picked from the perfect roster: Battles, Africa Hitech, Hudson Mohawke, Babe Rainbow, Prefuse 73, Brian Eno, Plaid, Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, and the exciting upcoming project from Damon Albarn (and his new buddies…Actress, Kwes, Dr Who Dat?) - DRC Music.

But after their release of last years Sunburst EP, there’s been an aftertaste left in our mouths for something more substantial from the Glaswegian producer. You know which one I’m talking about of course. HudMo seems to be loved for his campy indulgence in the current commercial US sound, but it’s Rustie who will come out on top this time around. He’s remixed almost everyone he admires, from Zomby to PVT, and he may have released a tune a while ago called Inside Pikachu’s Cunt, but this time he’s brought a dragon to a cockfight.

From the crackling chimes on the album opener there’s immediate contrast with a hair-guitar solo – from here the pace picks up, but the ambience doesn’t let down. If there’s one thing to say about Glass Swords, it’s that it will continue to surprise you – it’s a retarded pastiche of genres. I can hear Phil Collins drums, synthesized sax, ‘Seinfeld’-like slap-bass…all set within a crystal pyramid of bass; an outstanding trifecta of hip-hop, dubstep and grime. Add to that equally subtle amounts of prog-rock, trance and funk, thrown in for good measure, and you’ve got yourself one of the most impressive electronic albums in recent years.

I’ve got to say: the first few bars of some tracks here can throw you off – the trance set-up of Death Mountain quickly mutates into a crunchy hip-hop rhythm. Similarly, After Light dashes across rising synth chords into a bottomless chasm of trumpet-bass…and back again. Here, Rustie is a composer as much as producer, except this orchestra is from ‘Tron’.

Just to set things straight though: this isn’t a sugary affair. The immediacy and aggressiveness of City Star shows the producer’s audacity to produce the perfect grime beat with no need for proper vocals – something Bristol’s Joker has haphazardly done with his debut (The Vision, 4AD). This album is a romantic testiment to the current British bass culture – Glasgow? London? Does it matter? – and a kick in the face of the ‘Pimp My Ride’ generation. At the same time it’s insular – Rustie’s treading ground that has only been breached previously by a handful of acts such as Lone, Com Truise and Harmonic 313, but with none of these with such focus and intensity.

Of course there’s still always going to be comparisons to HudMo with this output, and others too (Lunice, Dam-Funk), but in my opinion Rustie goes further into the light. It’s an elevating experience to hear something with this amount of nostalgia for the eighties/nineties aesthetic without being too sickly sweet. There’s seems to be a weight to this sound that is hypnotic, almost. It may be the Sega 8-bit attack, or the 80’s prog allusions, but overall it doesn’t particularly matter. It’s fresh. If his previous yield was a bull-run, then Glass Swords is the china shop at the end of the street.