Rolando Simmons - a revered name in certain acidic circles - joins Utter for the 'Human Remains' EP, a wildly inventive 8-track adventure that deftly dabbles in rave, IDM, Techno and beyond in classic RS style. The project is the creative brainchild of Mattias Östling, who has been on a prolific production streak since the late 2000s, firstly under the name Trackermatte before settling into work under his current moniker.

This particular release is a missing puzzle-piece of sorts, compiled and sequenced by Utter's Alex Egan from a self-released digital collection titled 'Human Touch' which initially surfaced on Bandcamp during the producer's golden 2016 'Walk On Strawberries' and 'World Building' era.

'Human Touch' was a curious selection of unmastered oddities - the first Östling made using audio signal processing environment Cecilia5 - which remained largely overlooked due to its digital limbo. The tracklist itself shifted, with bonus tracks appearing then disappearing. While the excellent Dutch label 030303 cherry-picked the original version of the title track for a 2019 2xLP of the same name, the rest of the material remained frustratingly unavailable on vinyl and elsewhere, including the elusive bonus track which prompted Egan to reach out to Östling in the first place, the stunning 'sq1_mc4_iloveu03a_149unedit'.

That track is firmly at the core of this new EP, under its new title 'Nueva Traditional', as well as the alternative CV Beszállás edit of 'Human Touch'. They are surrounded by every other un-pilfered gem that originally appeared alongside them - however briefly - with all material freshly mastered and cut by Anne Taegert at D&M. The artwork and large fold-out poster (included with the 12") were designed by the Timpani Mystique Agency.

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Good job 030303 got their hands on these six tracks by Rolando Simmons as they remind you of where acid got its name from: this is music to trip to. The 303 is abused to the fullest while Simmons adds snares and outlandish melodies to the acid bubbles and bleeps that are never far away. Opener Acid Marriage is a mid-tempo, melancholic soundtrack for ravers who can't be sure of anything except they've lost the plot on the dance floor. The more downbeat second track consists of washed out melodies and deformed vocals and is unlikely to bring you back on planet earth. As you expect from a song entitled 'Home Alone 4', this one's to come down on. Montignac continues on the same tip while adding some quirkiness to. Dim, then, is a true highlight; with its driving beat, crisp hi-hats and playful acid bubbles, the track goes well with the image of a dwarf bouncing around on a horse that's way to big for his own good. The EP's final is Garden Diodes, a forcef ul upbeat track that pulls you right back into that creepy trip.


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