Two three-track EPs, issued in March 2011 and in February 2012, are combined on this, a limited-CD run for the Japanese market (though reasonably priced copies were available from European and North American retailers). Street Halo and Kindred, both of which were released on Hyperdub, are cohesive enough to be heard as the third Burial album. They offer minor deviations from the producer's previous output. Familiar sounds are stretched and sometimes thrust into new elongated shapes, and they evoke an identical mix of emotions. The first non-collaborative release since Untrue, Street Halo leads with the title track, one of the swiftest and most direct Burial tracks. A deep, probing bassline is lodged beneath a trembling charge of percussive elements and an angelic but forlorn vocal sample. "NYC" and "Stolen Dog" aren't nearly as vigorous, with the latter containing a soft keyboard melody that tugs at the heart, despite its placement beneath an assortment of chimes, disembodied voices, and knocking/tapping drums. The Kindred EP features two 12-minute cuts, both of which play out like cunningly paced suites rather than bloated tracks extended just for the sake of it. Within 90 seconds, "Kindred" stammers, grounds to a halt, and recharges, whisking the listener for a suspenseful sequence that moves from one dank nocturnal corridor to another. "Ashtray Wasp" is rustling garage coated in swirls of textures and volleyed vocal samples ("I want you," "I need you," "No, no, no," wounded melisma). Just before the eight-minute mark, it shifts gears, closing with an elegiac sound collage. "Loner," the in-between track, is rapid by Burial's standards, a hurtling escape scene for a being with a freshly crushed spirit. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

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