- Seattle's Night Gallery label began business last year with a pair of 12-inches by Detroit's Dijkhuis, which variously referenced motifs as disparate as beatdown house and classic Underground Resistance. For their third release, they turn to Italy's LOWLOW, a producer who has put his name to gems on Millions of Moments and Mathematics in the past, sometimes recording under the name Soulomon. Low Tide is a suitable follow-up to those Dijkhuis records, sending familiar tropes in strange new directions.
The thudding "Low Phase" is underlined by an arpeggiating clavinet line and wheezy synth tones. It doesn't change much throughout its nine minute duration, evidently more focused on sustaining disco house energy. "Low Ride" is a lot of pumping fun, blending a ghetto house vocal exchange with submerged organ and strained strings. It's a little grittier than its predecessor, but it has a similar strut. The flip is considerably weirder, particularly on "Apocalypse Low," where a sinister atmosphere is cultivated via a tense, pattering rhythm and corrosive, buzzsaw bursts. Finally, "Low Keys" pairs energetic synth squeals with circles of disorienting, detuned keys, landing somewhere between early bleep techno and recent narcotic house.
Tracklist A1 Low Phase
A2 Low Ride
B1 Apocalypse Low
B2 Low Keys