- Devon Hansen's discography may be just a couple of years deep, but it's already heading in several directions. As Lotide, the Montrealer's gauzy beat-based sample collages have appeared on Astro:Dynamics and elsewhere. Sterner musique concrete, like A Pair Of Quiet And Empty Rooms, is issued under his own name. And last year's split cassette with Austin Cesear introduced Stefan Jós, Hansen's pseudonym for hissy tape-techno. On the surface each project is distinct, but there are similarities: quietude, subtle gestures and a remarkable ear for sound design. Hansen's latest, a Stefan Jós EP for new Flau sublabel raum, brings these qualities into focus.
These four tracks are far more conventionally techno than Jós's past productions. Their textures are clearer, the drums more stable and the structures reliably linear. But this refinement doesn't come at the cost of identity. Shimmering synth chords supply Hansen's trademark nocturnal mood, while the wonderfully detailed midrange percussion reflects his love for natural sounds. The sun-dappled "Specialism (Uneasy)" might be the best of the lot, but the whole EP is consistently seductive. In a roundabout way, Hansen's focus on micro-groove and sonic clarity calls to mind Ricardo Villalobos; his only mistake is to cap each track at five minutes, when a Villalobos-style epic might've done just the trick.
TracklistA1 Inside Voices
A2 Specialism (Uneasy)
B1 L'Arcade
B2 Places to Drive at Night