André Leiria
Fear Of Death EP

Portuguese producer Mardel debuts on Carpet’s Circuits series with a tight set of modular jams. Precise, at times introspective but with a driving motor pulse underneath, the three electro tracks touch on acid and bass as they launch into space. For its part, the ten-minute lead track, ‘Ducks In A Pond’, is a dreamy dubby epic, full of surprising textures and watery flourishes.

Carpet & Snares Records in Lisbon continues its analogue series Circuits with a welcome return for Rawax alumnus Brother G. Each of the four tracks here has its own afternoon mood – the lazy, hazy, almost kick-less pastoralism of 'Stress Relief' contrasts with the wakeful buzzing of 'Give It A Try', whose steps and spirals in turn give way to slick and focussed microhouse on '10ml Bottle Please'. Finally, 'Xanax' is nothing but a daydream, its detuned IDM pads and broken beats the perfect soundtrack for self-medication and a cup of tea.

Shine Grooves (Hanagasumi, ФАКТУРА) is a specialist in live and experimental electronic music, blending software and hardware in his studio in Yekaterinburg, Russia. On this sophomore full-length he cultivates an otherworldly Space Garden on a distant planet, populated by alien organisms that move to their own extraterrestrial groove. Dawn breaks and the garden slowly comes to life on ambient opener ‘Morning Mood’, setting a promising tone for the day ahead. A kick shuffles in to work on the dubby ‘Tribal Acoustic’, which builds and builds before leading us into the industrious bounce of ‘Japan Sequencer’. This latter, first optimistic and later frenetic, ends the A-side’s warm-up and primes us for action on the B. ‘Tool’ is self-explanatory, a refined, stripped-down dub techno weapon honed for an afternoon’s hard work. After that exertion, ‘Evening Radio’ is the perfect cool-down, its delicately skittering percussion contrasting with sweet, improvised synth melodies. Finally, the ambient ‘Night Reverberation Jam’ is the sound of darkness falling, our garden’s lifeforms settling down to rest before the cycle begins afresh.

Saramago debuts on Lisbon’s Carpet & Snares with four slices of deep and groove-laden house. This is an EP of contrasts, the light skip of the A side shadowed by the more driving pulse of the B. Opening with the dubby, weightless house of ‘The Red Room’, Saramago then treats us to a wiggly banger in “Unicorn”, sure to melt today’s dancefloors. ‘Sakaboto’ takes things into darker territory with a focussed acid groove that opens up halfway through with twinkling pads. ‘Happy Endings’ rounds things off with funk and flair, another sure-fire peak-time bumper.credits