Picks Of The Week (05.02.22

0. Wilkinson - Cognition LP [Sleepless Music]

Recommended if you like: Sub Focus, Pola & Bryson, Mind Vortex

1. Nebulate - Marble Theory EP 💎 [Diascope]

Recommended if you like: Finalfix, Notequal, Volatile Cycle

Obviously the quality of the music is always my first priority, but if I've still got multiple great candidates after this first filtering step, I take other things into consideration too. Since I already spent a considerable amount researching stuff on the aforementioned Wilkinson review, I thought, why not give a spotlight to a newcomer. There's usually not that much to research with them, after all. So I chose Nebulate and his new Marble Theory EP, released on Neonlight's label Diascope. Producer from Germany, basically no bio other than that on his SoundCloud, nothing on Spotify either, great, I can immediately dive into the music! I present to you, my Hidden Gem Of The Week™️!

Not so fast though. His backstory goes way deeper.

First of all, he apparently isn't even german, but dutch and living in Germany. Or putting Germany in his bio to throw me off. Or spent quite some time in The Netherlands at least. Truls Stritzel, his real life alias, has also actually been active in the electronic music scene since nearly 10 years. Not only did he put out countless of mixes on his now-deleted SoundCloud and his luckily-still-up old YouTube, he was also active as a producer for quite a while too. First as Pavor Diem, then as DVerse and then, finally, as Nebulate since 2018. Throughout all this, he never once settled on just one genre. Basically all genres you can think of, he did a mix of. Minimal, Deep House, Techno, Electro House, Drum & Bass (of course), even Twerk, everything. His early producer journey is a little harder to track, but even as Nebulate he has dabbled in all kinds of stuff. A little bit of Dubstep here, a touch of Techno there, but ultimately mostly Drum & Bass nowadays. After a few free downloads, including a remix of Screamarts - Get Physical, his first "proper" debut was on Diascope's Constellation: Pegasus compilation EP in 2020. Since then, he also released a few great tracks via RustOut and Slaughterhouse, but Diascope seems to be his main home at the moment.

Overnight successes always take 10 years and all that. Right, now we get to the music!

The EP kicks off with Prelude, which might make it sound like an atmospheric intro tune at first, but just like my initial reaction to Nebulate's nebolous background story, there's more to this beneath the surface. With industrial half-time clinks and clanks Nebulate builds up a factory-like setting, but as soon as the tempo increases and the drop hits, we're on our way down to the basement. Seriously deep basses, almost cave-like reverberation, a nice stepper beat, really good stuff. That's not where things stop though, of course Nebulate has more tricks up his sleeve. In the breakdown a beautiful synth melody guides us along until things explode into a flurry of fast-paced otherworldy synths, warm basses and angelic choirs that make you feel like you're fighting the end boss in Castlevania. Nebulate even takes the time for a cinematic outro, with a whole lot of strings, sounds of a ship creaking in the water, and a heartbeat stopping to close it all off. An honestly amazing tune that takes the listener on a journey.

Next we've got Nazca, with YAANO on the collaboration. Instead of a sprawling journey through the sounds like before, the duo is going all-in on the techy heavy roller sound. Not complaining though, it's sick as hell. While the quick-firing techy drum loop on its own already gives the whole thing a huge amount of energy, it's the combination with all the glitchy artifacts and the wall of bass bubbling up slowly but surely every now and then that makes this a real banger of a tune. This is followed by Eng, which goes a steppier route than its predecessor. Even though the bass is still similarly distorted and the drum loops fast-paced, the rhythm of said bass just gives off this funky flow that makes my head want to move. Throughout the drop this flow is morphed around more and more until we are eventually hit with a full-on 4x4 switchup. The second drop goes the inverse route, from techno-inspired 4x4 pounding to steppy syncopated flow.

Speaking of funky, next up we've got Bubble Funk. Almost as if we're taking a break from the wildfire of the last few tracks, this one isn't focused on being the biggest banger, but on oldschool vibes. With a combination of a few Think Breaks, including a whole lot of the trademark high-pitched yeah's, and some super-low bubbling, Nebulate manages to create a really interesting oldschool-newschool hybrid here. Last but not least we've got Schizophrenic. This EP closer keeps that oldschool flair going, however instead of old types of breaks it feels like it's instead inspired by the likes of classic Ed Rush and Optical. Even though it's the longest track on the EP with a bit more than 5 minutes, the addictive continuously rolling drums, the beautiful cinematic atmospheres and a sick progression keep things interesting all throughout.

Five tunes, five unique styles, all of it sick! Looking forward to hearing more from Nebulate in the future.

Other deep and dark releases from this week:

Screamarts - At The Edge Of It All EP
Echo Brown - Midnight Static EP
goddard., bailey - Afterlife