Picks Of The Week (30.03.24

1. NIK P - Graveyard Shift [VALE]

Recommended if you like: Amoss, Arkaik, Koherent

As a German-speaking and -hearing person, reading the name Nik P is unearthing some deeply buried memories of the months of agony we as a nation had to endure, when DJ Ötzi's Schlager version of Nik's seminal Ein Stern absolutely dominated the radios and charts. Once I got over that initial jump scare though, I realised the subject of today's first pick is NIK P, capitalised, and that this Nik is probably the furthest you could possibly be from Schlager. So let's unveil what and who is behind this short pseudonym, shall we? Or should I say, unvale?

NIK P, derived from his real name Nik Purohit by the way, is a multi-genre mastermind from Dallas, Texas, USA, Earth. What started as him producing some Hip-Hop beats in 2014, quickly developed into an interest into all sorts of forward-thinking electronic music and by 2016, he became part of Texas-based music label and management group PRIME, being responsible for anything from event coordination to creative stuff, to even operational business things. With additional label managing jobs at Australian Dubstep & DnB platform PRIMAL (seemingly no relation to PRIME, funnily enough) in 2017, and German multi-genre-drifting label SATURATE! between 2018 and 2020, he entrenched himself into the scene at large further and further, until he and his mate Josh took matters into their own hands, with their very own platform, VALE. But wait, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's back up a bit again and look at how NIK's P-ersonal musical journey took shape during that time.

After rebranding from NIK to NIKKK, and then luckily, the less historically loaded NIK P, his official musical journey finally started with his very first releases in 2017. Of course, he's become part of the musical catalogue of the labels he's managed at the time, but soon enough, he's also made his mark on the likes of Bassrush, Electric Hawk, Space Yacht and AlphaPup's Arc, quickly becoming North America's most interesting new producer around, no matter which genre he pursued. This versatility didn't just translate to some great productions though. As one of the central figures of all things forward-thinking, he was able to craft some truly incredible DJ sets, leading to gigs all over the country and even his own headlining show with the Squam Collective in 2019! This creative drive wasn't just limited to the auditory arts though, he's also been honing his skills as a visual artist all throughout this, to the point that he's become the guy for anything art related at VALE. Okay, one more neat nugget of information before we actually get to VALE: Since 2023, Nik has also been pushing the local scene forward in the event space with his involvement in the Austin-based INTER/SECT series. With bookings like Justin Hawkes, REAPER and Rebel Scum, they've already brought some of the US' finest talents to the state of cowboys and whatnot, and from what I can tell, this is merely the beginning! Maybe next year they'll even get the Worship guys.

Alright, but what about VALE now? With origins as the collective-slash-premiere-channel IDM Collective, you might expect the label born out of this rather specifically named tribe to be geared towards mostly IDM too, but far from it! Once you learn that VALE is actually an acronym for Various Artists, Limitless Expression, the musical diversity on display starts to make a whole lot more sense. From the out-there Neuro and Halftime they've started out with, to the mindbending sound design wizardry created by vast roster of frankly insanely talented artists that includes but is certainly not limited to the likes of voljum, emjulate, d:enigma, Subp Yao and Aagentah, VALE has proven itself to be one of the places to go for the electronic music genre's craziest productions. Luckily for us, they've also got a soft spot for DnB, as evidenced by the massive Global Extraction compilation in 2021, which introduced Tom Finster, gyrofield, Trinist and many more to the label. Even mostly DnB enjoyers like me can find joy in their other pursuits though, like the truly insane Halftime-focused album from Czech masterminds Malcuth & Factum or the true insanity on display from voljum. For fans of mixed music, they even got their own series of specifically curated guest mixes, ENTER:VALE PROGRAM!

Now, Nik returns to the platform he co-founded with the first in a series of more club-focused bangers, Graveyard Shift! With various layers of ominousity (surely that's a word), from the creepy voices echoing through our minds to the tense atmospheric work, Nik effectively eases us into the eery state of mind associated with working at the witching hour. Slowly but surely, the main bass lead slithers into our consciousness, until it eventually bursts free, taking our attention prisoner with its hypnotising bounciness, while intricate, steppy drums and all sorts of other weird sounds keep us on our toes. As if that wasn't sick enough, Nik smoothly amps up the energy until we're confronted with a double-timed bassline groove on top of fast-paced rolling drums, effortlessly moving back and forth on the spectrum of energy.

With a groove like that, even the most grueling Graveyard Shift loses its G. I could've also gone with Grooveyard Shift, but I liked that one more.

Other deep stuff from this week:

Moytra - On My Mind / Midnight
Wingz, Rider Shafique - Keep Control
Mrk-One, Prez MC - Jaded (ZeroZero Remix)
Invadhertz - Icy
Tech Noir - Bamboo / Blackoister

2. Osprey - Mindless EP 💎 [Delta9 Recordings]

Recommended if you like: Evolved, Exept, Notequal

Yeah, yeah, this one was already released 2 weeks ago technically, but its Beatport exclusive status meant I didn't get around to it until now, and it's too good to not talk about!

For this week's Hidden Gem Of The Week™️, we fly back to Europe, to the administrative centre of its union: Brussels! While a lot of my features on here focus on its Benelux neighbour, Belgium has also been a haven for exciting developments in DnB for decades now and frankly deserves more recognition from me here. Even on just an initial glance, you've got huge names like Netsky, his potential successors Andromedik and Used, Rampage head honcho Murdock, or the myriad of Jump Up talents like Basstripper, Primate or Captain Bass - and there's a ton more to explore. Today, I want to feature one particular techy and rather underrated one: Osprey!

The story of Elliot Ghisbain, the man behind this exciting project, is one of many names, but I'll try my best to keep it comprehensible. Since 2016, Elliot has been setting dancefloors ablaze with his selections as the indomitable Methaxys. Not too long after, he teamed up with his good mate William, back then known as Odalisq (and nowadays going by the Hard Techno alias ØDLSQ), to reign chaos with their fiery sets, either simply as Methaxys & Odalisq, or sometimes stylised as Method. Together, they quickly became a force to be reckoned with and eventually earned a spot on the coveted list of Methlab agency resident DJs. Since doubling the amount of people worked so well the first time around, they soon found themselves two more people to team up with, for the unstoppable Evolved project. From 2019 on, Elliot and William joined forces with Gilles de Ro, also known as T-Psy (and one half of Human Error), and Pierre Bijloos, also known as Peter Klash. Ah yes, wait, Gilles and Pierre also used to be a duo called Sismic apparently. I swear that's the end of the name dumping!

As Evolved, the quadruple went on to make the scene their own, with releases on T3K, Diascope, Delta9, Ekou, EPO22 Music Tales and a bunch more. Along the way, however, Elliot and William left the ensemble, both of them opting for that sweet sweet solo project lifestyle in their respective niches. It was a hot summer night in August 2022 when Elliot formally announced the beginning of his brand new one-man-show venture, Osprey! With the journey through tech and space that was his debut free download Cylender, Elliot managed to perfectly capture the vibes that would follow on the likes of Delta9, Hyperactivity and All172Things in 2023. But will he be able to continue this hot streak into 2024? To get to the bottom of this most intriguing of questions, let's take a deeper look at his newest offering, the Mindless EP on Italian deep-dark-and-techy powerhouse Delta9!

Straight away, we dive deep into the futuristic soundscapes me and my fellow Osprey enjoyers have come to expect from the Belgian talent, on the title track Mindless. Smooth ethereal vocals, pulsating walls of synths, otherworldly flourishes, all leading into a harmonious stream of them all and more, swiftly pushed forward by the fast-paced drum action. On Inside, Elliot brings in the first collaborative force of the project, Argentinian producer Joaquin Wilson aka CCX! As you might remember from my features of his contribution to Sinful Maze's Outer Operators compilation and his massive single Day By Day, I'm a bit of a fanboi of the newcomer, so seeing his name on here ccx-cited me to no end! Even though I've went into this tune with some rather, let's say, elevated expectations, the dynamic duo managed to convince me, with their straight-up lovely intro full of soft Ekho vibes, sweet vocals and lush guitar, a drop complete with syncopated drum action, all sorts of glitchy bleeps and bloops, and a progression that's at first smoothing things into a rolling vibe, with only the vocal chopping staying hectic, until it later becomes completely chaotic and even the melodies also get sliced into pieces.

Speaking of sharply cutting sounds: Next up, we've got The Veil, the second collaborative effort! This time, super fresh up-and-comer Trent Mcneil aka It's Tricky joins the fray and boy, does this combo work for me. Relentlessly forward-pushing waves of shuffly, techy, quick-firing drums are just the beginning! We've also got all sorts of spliced-up staccato sounds firing off, a lot of glitches in the matrix making their presence violently known and even some rather aggressive vocal sample stuff, all contributing to the making of one hell of a banger. To round this fastness all off, we brake a couple BPMs down to the level of actual Breaks, on Without You. A catchy vocal repeats its wonderful rendition of the titular sentiment on top of a slowly but surely chugging Breakbeat-based rhythm, while massive, tastefully dissonant synths go through their own melodic journey. A journey that not only takes it and everything around it down an octave, but later also disintegrates into fluttery streams of strange beauty, before returning stronger than ever, with a supremely satisfying finale. Wonderful!

Let us pray Osprey won't deprave us of these sprays of insane production ospranytime soon.

Other techy things from this week:

Revolve - Silent / Boxed
Moytra - On My Mind / Midnight
Intercept - Insomnia
[insert alias] - PHNK.exe 💎
Arkala Dre - Forté