Pyramid Of Knowledge
The Elevation

Picking up on the launch of Marie Montexier’s Paryìa label with a trippy EP by a.b.u.3.0.3., the second release comes from the Dublin based shooting star Small Crab.The Skin & Blister founding member delivers three percussive breaky tracks that highlight a wide range of her musical influences. Combining smooth textures with tribal rhythms the ’Flowing with Honey’ EP perfectly rounds off with a bass heavy remix by London based producer Talik, who recently gained attention through highly acclaimed releases on 3024 and Intercept.

Driss Bennis is back in stores with his OCB project for another future classic. This massive 8 tracker pushes all boundaries of techno, break-beat and electro. A-side strictly for nervous DJs, B-side for sensitive souls! Tested and Approved. Catch the train.

Lonely Planets Rec re-welcomes stargazer Jack Roland for its 8th release. The Amsterdam-based producer blasts off with an irresistible fabric of futuristic Midwestern electronics. Each cut is programmed in a disc- scratched techno dreamscape, smearing elements of braindance and electro into a shoegazy gauze. Warping us through a totally fabricated time bending vision, destining us into a final recollection of irony and elegance. It felt like a kiss.

Konduku returns to the Delsin Mantis series with an exciting double pack (Mantis 09 + 10) which dives deeper into his remarkable fractured rhythms and light-touch synthesis. Over the course of nine tracks Ruben Uvez straddles the space between introspective headphone trips and hypnotising dancefloor elegance, operating in a liminal zone of fluid tempos, submerged atmospheres and pointillist beats. It's an open-ended but clear-sighted approach that aligns perfectly with the direction of the Mantis series. On Mantis 09 Uvez follows a progressive, patient arc of energy from the glassy chimes and pin-prick percussion of 'Ozlem' via 'Scale's reduced, atonal echo chamber and the half-time prowl of 'Derinkuyu' to the dense, humid pressure of 'Swerve'. Restraint maintains throughout, even as we take in a broad spectrum of the Konduku sound.

The fifth release of the CiM re-issues is his debut EP for the deFocus-label dating back from 2000. With 'Service Pack' Simon Walley subtly moved away from the dancefloor, creating a pack full with ear tickling and mind twisting electronica. Pure bliss. Now re-mastered and re-cut on Delsin Records.

Kasra V’s Hyperdelic EP, his first release on Radiant Records, showcases the producer’s attentive ear for textural and rhythmic play. His last EP from 2018, Akasa, was a collection of dreamy, break-driven pieces, and a more ambient collaboration with Dopplereffekt; timbre and meticulously tuned sonics were also in focus then, but we now hear a reduction of form, and with it, a saturation of style.“Voice note to self” kicks off the EP with a boom-bap drum loop. The rhythm continues as percussive elements are added and removed, adhering to the groove and its growing complexity. A warm bassline chugs along, pitched vocals mumble into the static, and an ascendant pad begins to give the track a gorgeous depth: a horizon. Following is a remix of the same track by Byron B. Yeates and Roza Terenzi, adapting certain samples from Kasra V’s production and looping them up to a brisk 142 BPM. As can be expected from these two, the kick’s punchy 4/4 structure is buttressed by crisp percussion and clever, unexpected rhythms.On the B-side, “Vesper” takes us back to downtempo. Bumping on at around 80 BPM, Kasra V builds upon a drum-machine loop with processed percussion samples: a snare-roll one could hear in a jungle track, chopped claps panning across the break, and so on. And the slow, warm gurgle of an 808 comes in just at the point of fracture, holding it all together. “Night Prime” extends the EP’s principle of a drum loop serving as the skeleton – with greater drama, somehow. Like in “Voice note to self”, we hear vocal samples, but here they swerve in and out of clarity; we break into unexpected moments of silence, and the loop restarts; 3 minutes in, a huge, minor piano chord breaks upon the track like dusk. “Warm up great” closes the EP with the blend of left-field groove and dissonance one might associate with Future Sound of London or early work of The Chemical Brothers. The textures and tunings of each sample are so dense, so delicious, Kasra V lets us savour them for the last 20 seconds of the EP, lost in the reverb of a singly struck piano key.