Desireless

Even though his name's been on plenty of lips since the drop of his debut EP, 'Ys', released back in 2014, each new record from Gardens Of God comes as a fresh and vibrant kiss of life to whichever label gets him to grace its grooves. Back on Ellum Black to kick off the new year after three outings in the imprint's main series, the Lithuanian producer unleashes one of his home-cooked assortments of stripped-down, yet salient, warehouse-sized brain melters. Starting with the title-track 'Ken', which - sure to have the fierce winds of dementia blowing on all dance-floors it comes across - lays down a balanced mix of textural roundness and train-like dynamism with an ever trenchant, gut-punching churn. Minimal in essence but forged in the strongest of alloys, GoG's compositions keep rolling and pitching like carbon-made nutshells in a tempest of raging elements. Same goes with the tribal dub of 'Spirits', which trades most of the opener's spheric bounce for a harsher, steelier kind of rhythmic shuffle, whilst lifting its listener to a further entrancing state of mind. Rushing headlong into euphoric 4/4 terrains, the steady rolling highlight 'Bell You' nails it on an even more addictive note with its delicate wind chimes cutting a path of illumination across intricate games of delayed drums and hypnotic, knee-buckling bass moves from down the greater depths. 'Ken EP' encapsulates most of what makes Garden of God's singular appeal: a subtly-inlaid hybrid of trancey buildups, electronica-infused melodicism and an out-there, big-room-dedicated pound that's no other aim but to morph a disparate crowd into one giant, malleable mass of pleasure and ecstasy. Tune yourself in.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.net

Ellum Black, the new sub-label of Maceo Plex’s notorious imprint, focuses on the dark and intellectual side of techno. This second record instalment features Spanish producer Architectural. Following an EP on the main branch of the label in 2017, Juan Rico aka Architectural delivers 3 forward thinking cuts for this record. Architectural is known for his detailed and magnetic productions and on ‘A Girl With No Friends EP’ he goes deeper into the hypnotic edge of his soundscape. The first track we hear ‘Romanticism Movement’ creates a statement for the vocabulary of sounds Rico used for this record such as low frequencies and deep grooves. The title track follows on the B-side with develops on these textures. Closing the trio ’Never Yours, Boy’ finishes the EP with another variation of Architectural’s romantic techno repertoire.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.net

Spanish producer ORBE debuts on Maceo Plex’s Ellum Black imprint with a demonstrative three-track set of dancefloor variety, entitled Excited. The EP functions with a distinct flavor for all three tunes, effective for dancefloor use at different times throughout the night — nudged between peaks and valleys with ease and elegance. After previously releasing material for the likes of Hivern Discs and Lone Romantic, this Spanish talent has found a way to elevate himself to a place in the techno community that lends himself to experiment with his productions and exude fantastic results. Beginning with “Abnormal Silence”, the EP sets a tone by not being afraid to deviate from the standard “4×4” sound, while trickling in efficient uses of static, glitch and rumbling bass between hypnotic snare-centric rhythms. The title track, “Excited” follows that up with a loopy, lucid-dreaming techno roller that experiments with half-step, snare drops alongside evocative vocal cues. Finally, with the conclusive sounds of “Loving Brussels”, ORBE caps off this extravagant journey with regal chord progressions, bass that hits with heft, and a build-up that culminates to a wondrous end-point for a journey that was worth the ride that came with. Ellum Black is opening doors to different strands and avenues of techno, and with ORBE’s release — the path to dancefloor uniformity looks to be a reality sometime soon.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.net

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.net