Fausto
PHDA 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.

Dublin producer Lukey has his finger firmly on the pulse of the sounds emanating from Berlin and London’s newly awakening dancefloors, as proven by this stellar debut for Carpet &Snares’ LAB series. Contemporary club music is all about opening up the space between genres and filling it with something at once referential and new, and this EP is no exception.Other Worlds Vol. 1 effortlessly blends house, techno, electro and breaks into a mature sound world that’s both tight and expansive, funky and tough, contemplative and right down to business. Get moving with Vol. 1, and watch out for Vol. 2 coming soon!