apparently london based producer and yardcore promoter djrum doesn’t use any synths in his music, instead heavily treating and layering samples to get the lo-fi, round-edged sound he wants. and so it is that a vintage veil of burnt hues and thick atmosphere characterize (at least three of the tracks from) his new mountains ep for 2nd drop – the label run by london dubstep writer, mark gurney.
opener ‘undercoat’ is filmic from the off, with sampled voices and graveled layers pinned to a lurching kick. some big but brief strings add drama before other percussive ticks, hits and dubby chords flesh things out for the final third. as the final moments melt to nothing, a wholesale reggae track plays for a few seconds as if you’ve woken in the real world with a radio playing in the background… whatever, it’s a track which certainly transports you somewhere.
on the flip, ‘mountains pt 1’ is beautifully, delicately fierce. straight from the bowels of berghain, it’s a wall of loopy, fine grain techno that spurts and splutters with a fizzing analogue finish. the underwater breakdown is somber, with stirring strings (are there any other sort?) backing a forlorn vocal echo. the ruefulness it induces then lingers in the air as the brutal-but-muted bottom end rumbles once again to make for an emotionally tortured techno banger like few you’ll hear all year.
‘mountains pt 2 & 3’ again operate in the subby bowels of low end frequencies, with knocking beats and cinematic sampling drifting about with a foreboding sense of remorse. all this internalized broodiness was always gunna need a release, and djrum offers that moment perfectly with the uplifting garage/house/r&b fusion that is closer ‘tiruya.’ it’s a more effervescing, brighter cut that could well be on hot flush for its sleek lines, but the palette cleansing effect it has at the end of this ep is an inspiration. most notable for a powerful and purposeful uses of strings, there’s an instantly aged aesthetic to these records which makes them very easy to love.
[...] missed earlier efforts on dark arx, but get the lowdown, here) though his next one on the fledgling 2nd drop is just as appealing: it’s a tight, rolling number that recalls burial and four tet and comes [...]
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