Picks Of The Week (17.07.21

Yeah yeah, I'm a week late for the TZ EP. But I'm writing it in the week before the one you're reading this in, I just didn't get finished in time for last week's thread so I'll use it for this week instead. Not confusing at all, nope. And you know what? I'm going to have to do it next week too, as my weekend is going to be completely full again. Oh well.

1. TZ - Wonder EP 💎 [ATNMY]

Recommended if you like: Satl, Dawn Wall, Artificial Intelligence

It's Summer! And you know what that means: Heavy rain for more than one week straight with the most massive floodings we've ever had. Sorry, that's just the bleak german in me talking. You know what all the rain has got me in the mood for though? Some Liquid DnB! Another smooth transition Lennart, you did it.

I'll sweeten the deal even more: How about a Liquid EP by a complete newcomer, on a great just-founded new label? Enter: TZ! No, not the Munich-based tabloid newspaper, the producer! I don't blame you for not yet knowing him though. So who is he? TZ, also known as Luke Tzortzis (hey, that's where the name comes from), is a very very new producer straight outta Surrey/Brighton. His production journey started in 2017, but the world would have to wait until April 2020 for a published track to appear on his SoundCloud. After his debut upload Lost he started working with the british talent agency Helix Promotions, through which he released his debut free download EP Mirror's Edge. Okay, let me drop the jokey tone for a second: That EP is honestly class all the way through and the fact that it's pretty much one of his first ever releases is nuts. Then, in early 2021, he started booking DnB mentoring sessions with dutch prodigy Edlan, from De Toeterboys fame. As he explained in a promo post for the EP, he was immediately blown away by the already super high quality of TZ's productions. At some point during his mentoring Edlan decided he wanted to give all these great tunes from both TZ and the other students a proper home, and started a whole new label: ATNMY! After they dropped a promotional mix showcasing some of the upcoming ATNMY releases in May, I was already extremely hyped for what's to come. I mean, there's really only one EP out yet, but I would still say my hype was very much justified, because TZ smashed it with this one and has rightfully earned the Hidden Gem Of The Week™ title.

Okay wait, before we talk about the actual music here, let me just throw in one more fun fact I found while researching Luke. Apparently he played a role in the first episode of season 8 of BBC's Spooks in 2009, i.e. when he was around 9. At first I thought nah that can't be him, but then I saw the Wikipedia article about the episode. In the production section they specifically mention the director being super happy with the performance of the child actor Luke and then I thought oh damn, maybe that is him. Okay I might have followed the rabbit hole a bit far there, it's probably just some other guy with the same name. Either way, it was fun to read about for me. Back to the music!

If you are like me and enjoy the "tribal" type of liquid popularized by the likes of Dawn Wall/Mohican Sun/Tatora/KALOA/Satl/Edlan, then you are at the right place! The EP explores the beautifully uplifting kind more so than the heavy kind, but don't worry, there's still some heavy basslines to be found. The EP kicks off with Strictly Lone, a collaboration with label head toeter Edlan himself and one of the loveliest tunes on the release. The atmosphere is chock-full of beautifulness, thanks to the various different relaxingly processed flutes (?!) and pianos, atmospheric background sounds like birds chirping and many other little details I probably overheard, like the pleb I am. One thing stands out the most for me though: The heavenly vocals. I wish I could give credit to the talented vocalist who produced these stunning melodies, but I assume it's a sample from a track I'm unfamiliar with. If it is, chapeau to the producers for choosing this lovely sample. It's honestly perfect.

On Persistence TZ dives into the deeper territories of the subsubgenre. Heavy drums that your head physically can't help but nod along to roll along while various melodies abruptly fade in and out of the composition. When I say abruptly, I don't mean it's just 0-100 and then 100-0 again, no no, TZ managed to find a really unique way of swiftly bringing in and fading out vocals and melodies. At this times the vocal samples almost feel... reversed? Some of them aren't, since the bit of lyrics one can hear still sound like normal forward-English, but it has that tape rewind sound to it, if that makes sense. Either way, it's quite the interesting liquid roller! TZ then keeps the roller ball rolling on Wonder. To me, Wonder feels like the continuation of Persistence in a way. It still features some great hard-hitting rolling drums, it's got those uniquely chopped up vocals and it's also a little heavier than most of the rest of the EP. Unlike its predecessor, however, Wonder plays around a lot more aggressively, for lack of a better word, with its vocal choppages. It goes back and forth between a more high-pitched vocal and a lower-pitched counterpart, sometimes even interweaving for a bit. If you'd try to chart all the vocals coming and out it would probably look extremely chaotic at times, but TZ really makes it work.

Onto the next one! Ion is probably the most unique tune on the EP. Its heavy yet also kind of chill wubs very much transport a summer vibe to the listener, but occassionaly the heaviness overpowers the relaxation. At its most powerful points it even goes into a bit of bit crush territory, as if the software is only barely holding the wubs together. Really interesting little detour in my opinion, it's not often that you hear this kind of vibe. Last but not least we've got Pieces! Even through the bits and pieces of heaviness, the EP has been quite beautiful so far. When listening to Pieces, it becomes clear that TZ really saved the most beautiful stuff for last though. I just want to drift away when I listen to this. If Liquicity actually happened, Pieces would have been the perfect dancing with eyes closed track during one of the afternoon sets.

Truly delightful stuff, especially for a debut EP. Like, come on, how?

Other liquid stuff from this week (yes, this week for real):

Fred V - Glockenspiel Riddim
Oakwite - Whisper
Blacklab - Curious / The Vow
Linguistics, Dogger, Mindstate, Blind Mic - Change
Mollie Collins, Ruth Royall - Dance Together
DBG, Feed The Fire - Dusk
AM94 - Knowing 💎 (little darker but still quite chill)
Strafe, Jess Wiel, Subdue - Hidden Spirits / Subdue Remix 💎
Heist, Duskee - Dripping
Simple Souls - A Trip To Sardinia EP