- Published on
Picks Of The Week (02.09.23 - 08.09.23)
- Authors
- Name
- Lennart Hoffmann
- @lelelelelennart
I'm at Disneyland this week (not even making this up) and since I will have been too busy drinking rum with Jack Sparrow and doing whatever elephants do with Dumbo, I won't have the time to listen to releases. So I thought I'd give two in my eyes absolutely massive EPs from last week a retroactive spotlight instead!
1. Initia - No Place EP π [Stoic Music]
Recommended if you like: Geostatic, Xeonz, Screamarts
Let's start things off with a proper Hidden Gem Of Last Weekβ’οΈ, Initia!
As just one of the many, many talents residing in the metropolis I travel to more often than I see my parents, Berlin (and I see my parents regularly!), Kiel-born Fabian Beterke alias Initia might not necessarily have popped up on a lot of people's radars yet, but after hearing what sort of crazy vibes he has cooked up for this debut EP (!) of his, I am convinced this is very much about to change. What makes the extremely high quality even crazier to me is that there isn't even that much backstory to cover here! Fabian initia-lly started out releasing a couple deep vibes on the Urban Wildlife 3 and SDDNB Reflections compilations in 2018, taking a rather long break until he returned stronger than ever in 2023, with a couple of collaborative releases with Skulder & Mully and Senchai on the supremely fresh, in all senses of the word, Berlin-based label Stoic Music.
Of course, that is also where this first solo EP was now released! But what is Stoic Music even? Some philosophical professor dropping wisdom bombs left and right on top of ambient background noise? Well, not quite, but aside from maybe IDM type jungle the closest thing to that our genre has to offer: atmospherically rich, deep, minimal and liquid DnB! Since being founded not even a year ago, in November 2022, by Skulder & Mully and Anton Quasi, the Berlin-based imprint has already made quite the impression on the scene, with releases from not just all sorts of wonderful German talents like CRSV, T:Base and Silentium, but also international artists like Frenchman Kowstla or Schnitzelman Senchai, while also putting on some rather large label nights in the legendary Panke club. While I already thoroughly enjoyed most of their releases so far, this new one has got to be my favourite yet. So let's finally talk about it then!
Initia's biggest project yet, the No Place EP, wastes no time at all and dishes up the big time vibes right away, with the rather incredible opener Safety In Numbers. Subtle analog synths looping in and out of existence, heavily reverberated, eerily beautiful melodic stings, clean as hell drums, a blanket of bass that would be way too warm in this weather, and a great bassline rearing its head every now and then. From these lofty heights we now drop down to the minimal yet sharp slapper Ground Level. With Hamburg-based Azur returning on the feature after their first collaborative effort Yours Alone in 2022, things are sounding way more minimal than before, with clonky, hypnotically steppy snares, a lot of movement in the subbass basement and a cacophony of menacing sounds attacking you. As if all that wasn't Berlin-esque enough already, the duo even switch it up into a full-on 4x4 rhythm in the second half, before jumping right back into the syncopation action.
Now on to a quite special tune, the title track itself, No Place! After taking in the thick atmosphere sitting somewhere between abandoned post-apocalyptic wasteland and 2001 Space Odyssey, Initia throws in a minimalistic yet incredibly interestingly produced, rolling drum loop with heavy kicks causing some ruckus underneath. This is only the beginning of this particular auditory journey though. One by one, new elements emerge from the wasteland, from whirring distorted alarms to eventually even a whole new, way steppier but similarly unique-sounding snare to top it off. Not only is this "one drop" structure already breaking away from the usual genre norms, there's even an extended outro showcasing the atmosphere some more! Speaking of breaking conventions, the EP closer Fly goes even further with the weirdness. With Julia on the atmospheric background cries, we bounce on a rather left-field rhythm, before suddenly, the bass is unleashed to wreak some havoc, before suddenly, more drums jump into the syncopated game putting our head into full-on nod mode, before suddenly, even more bass attacks us. Not to mention the disturbingly distorted, bit-crushed drums in the second half!
There's something particularly interesting about a project as multi-faceted in its experimentation and as beautiful in its execution as this one. Whether it's sound design, structure or even rhythm, Initia is always bringing his (Initi-)A game here.
2. Not Fair - So High π [Selfreleased]
Recommended if you like: The Outsiders, Solomon France, Dr. Apollo
From one end of the lΓ€nds of ze germΓ€ns to the other, let's talk about Not Fair, the brand new project from Stuttgart-based artist Felix Schlenker! That's right, two Hidden Gems Of Last Weekβ’οΈ, both from Germany! Shout-out to Wouter for the suggestion on this one.
While this newest venture might be a bit too new for most of you, my dear readers, to know about already, I'll try to make it a little more fair for you and give you a bit more backstory. As cr3sh, Felix has been crashing one electronic scene after the other since at least 2019, with his casualties including everything from Glitch Hop and Electronic to Dubstep and even DnB. If you're someone who is constantly trying to find the newest talents out there, you will probably already have come across some of his many creative musical endeavours, as he's been a regular on Eliminate's and especially Donkong's truly excellent WeAreHumans demo feedback streams for quite some time now. Not just that though, Felix has also been known to take matters into his own hands, organising his own sample flip challenge, Beatroulette, on his YouTube channel, with the illustrious cast of participants including the likes of Bukez Finezt, Donkong, naiyaah, Eonoe and Thani. On that very same platform, Felix also puts out a ton of other helpful music related content from his own beat flips to tutorials to just general musical advice. Definitely worth checking out.
Then, 2023 rolled around and Herr Schlenker truly earned his surname by creatively pivoting to a DnB-only project, the aforementioned Not Fair. What do I mean with the surname thing? Oh, Schlenker is a German word for a harsh turn while driving. Sorry, that really was not fair to my non-Lederhosen readers. Anyway. That's all I can really say about this new project, to be honest. He bootlegged Soki and, of course, Donkong and that's it.
Until this past week, that is! Almost completely out of nowhere, Felix puts out the truly unfairly amazing 7-track behemoth of an EP that is So High. Welcome, well, welcomes us into his mad, mad world way up above the clouds, getting to the point very quickly, where truly gnarly basses cause some major damage in cooperation with the hard-hitting, steppy snare work, while cheeky, flimsy fairies buzz around above it all. To prepare us for what's to come later on, Welcome also switches things up a couple of times, breaking down into a Hiphop/Halftime beat and even switching up the bassline rhythms in the second half. Now that we're up in the sky, it's time to relish in the wonderfully weird life up there, with So High. Together with fellow Beatrouletteur naiyaah, Felix dishes up a beautifully bouncy, unabashedly upbeat, fabulously flowing little tune that's got everything you need in a lovely banger of today: a classic vocal sample, burly bass work and a 4x4 firework in the second drop!
Our journey has only just begun though, as on our third stop it's time to let your frustrations about delayed flights and too high temperatures all out, with the emotionally-charged Explode. While the main star of the explosive show is probably the pop-punk-y vocal sample, it's only one of the many puzzle pieces. We've also got the seriously unique, almost manic melody jumping up and down the melodic ladder, pianos in the quiet moments and other little flourishes in between to spice things up into one big melancholic yet uplifting vibe. This exact same vibe is further explored on Can You, on which Felix transforms another classic vocal sample into something so weirdly yet beautifully processed it almost reaches the Hyperpop stage, with the vocal slicing further along in the drop probably being my favourite quirkly little thing, and weaves it perfectly into a rather delightful, similarly contrastful instrumental.
Speaking of Hyperpop, our next destination Never Coming Home with KYPT on the feature basically goes all in on this most strangely sounding trend of our time. Heavy (auto-)tuning on the heartfelt vocals, vocal chops everywhere, upbeat, happy vibes somehow accomplished by some incredibly harsh, dissonant synths - it all sounds weird on paper, but trust me, it works damn well! A disclaimer that would probably also make sense for our penultimate auditory experience, the next of hopefully many collaboration with naiyaah, the bravely-titled Afterglow. Furiously firing, tastefully techy, creative and colourful stabby stabs are used to create an honestly really interesting staccato rhythm, seemlessly going back and forth between machine gun fire and longer-living specimen, while still managing to make a dangerously catchy melody out of it all, with vocal chops galore. What a tune!
We've still got one more to go though, the supremely funky I Never Knew You! With its subtle lo-fi piano rhythm and the lovely vocal sample you might think things will slow down for the finale, but as soon as the bassline comes in, you'll know that's wrong. Continuously marching, very videogame-y, very tongue-in-cheek type basses walk up, down, back up and back down the stairs again, while flutes, flourishes and fantastic snares fill in the gaps, resulting in a tune that might as well be a soundtrack to a slightly mischievous, but ultimately lovable, side character going on silly little adventures, while still being a great banger all around.
In short, an absolutely wonderful in-depth exploration of the imaginative, bright world of an incredible new talent. What's not to love?