Esteban Adame
BLVD Nights EP

Back on Kalahari Oyster Cult after a maiden incursion in 2020, Brussels' boldest club explorer Andrea Mancini, alias Cleveland, resurfaces with “Golem” - a helluva four-track trip spanning Arcadian shimmers, bobbly swamps of disproportioned FX and other off-piste routes swiftly veering into the wild wild west of house production. Treating sound like an entomologist magnifies the dazzlingly lush shapes and colours of insects, Mancini overexposes his elements, clicks, percussions, pads, clicks, et al. to a profusion of playful procedures.Opening cut “Forest” sets up the scenery into serenely alive woodlands, where slo-rattling percs and wonky polyrhythms gently coalesce with further entranced congas and alien gargling, shaping up to an off-beat symphony of sorts. Adding a steelier spin to his macro views of teeming cellular life, “Trullo” blends in a propulsive mix of dynamic drums, fluttering chimes, aqueous dub, and squelchy sub-bass moving incognito.Dwelling the flip is the title-track “Golem” and fellow KOC affiliate Junes’ remix, each bringing along its distinctly unique palette of colours and sensations to the table. While the original mix rather focuses on the in-betweens and über-detailed immersive quality of its audio CGI, merged with a sixth sense for wrong-footing stop-and-go sequencing, Junes remix puts rhythmic straightforwardness back at the centre of considerations, cranking the tempo up a notch without stripping it bare of its vital textures and ideas lavishness.

Luhk returns to Carpet & Snares after his 2020 EP ‘Em Casa’. Now the Portuguese producer is seeking ‘Novos Horizontes’ (new horizons) via these five fiery club tracks. Each of the first four cuts has its own jet fuel: acid basslines on ‘Em Missão’ and ‘L.Submundo.D.’, a classic M1 on ‘Não Há Volta Atrás’, and an early 00s bumping tech house groove on ‘Linhas De Espaço & Tempo’. The title track closes the EP with galactic electro, proving that the horizon is just the start.