- "Try and envisage the sound of galaxies rotating, the sound of a forest after a thunderstorm, or the sound of an infinite cave where sound never dissipates fully," it reads on the Echodub Soundcloud page. For the last three years the imprint—run by Alex Cowles, AKA DFRNT—has been a consistent source of deep and ethereal bass music. Established as a platform to showcase fresh electronic talent spanning dubby techno and house to chilled out ambience to steppier soundscapes, its collective members are united by a penchant for meditative melodies.
On approaching one of its releases, whether you have heard of the artist or not—the latter being the case here, with Ak0pian being a fairly anonymous producer from Italy—Zen-like expectations are rarely unmet. Waterfoul is the same. Its four tracks of synthy atmospherics and pillowy pads wrap you up tightly in its warm and soothing embrace. You can sit back, hit loop and press play to be carried off to another realm, a dubby haven of beautifully broken beats, chimes and pockets of samples. "Dampstart" is probably the standout, with its spattering percussion wallowing in sub bass. Like so much of Echodub's output, it's wholly entrancing.
Tracklist 01. Waterfoul
02. Metacyc
03. Dampstart
04. Complexe