- A veteran of the Uruguayan scene helps Andrew James Gustav launch his new label.
- Over the past few years, European DJs have struck up a fruitful exchange with artists centered around Uruguay's Phonotheque club. European labels like Melliflow and Traffic have drafted producers like Z@p and Omar to represent the underground sound of Montevideo, a sonic milieu that includes early techno, acid and electro. Andrew James Gustav launches his new Marginal Returns label with four tracks that fit the Phonotheque formula from a veteran of the Uruguayan scene, Two Phase U.
The label says that, in 1998, the Montevideo producer Hernán Gonzaléz made a "recently rediscovered" LP as Two Phase U, which inspired the new tracks on this EP. On the A-side, dry drums—brittle claps, snare spurts and hi-hat shards—create a gentle momentum for simple melodies. On "Tremendous," there's an acidic bounce, while a bloopy melody marches between swung hi-hats on "Fill U." The B-side offers two takes on electro-breakbeat compounds, as both rattle breakbeats under stuttering kick-snare patterns. "Kill" flags Detroit with a lead plucked from machine strings, while "Elevator" takes a gentler approach. This EP shows an insider's understanding of the appeal of retro sounds.
TracklistA1 Tremendous
A2 Fill U
B1 Kill
B2 Elevator