- Nicuri is a member of Exchange Place, the small crew of DJs and producers who have spent the last decade or so in the orbit of DJ Qu. With Joey Anderson, the first Exchange Place breakout, now firmly established as a star in his own right, the New Jersey producer born Ruben Candelario is next in line to stake his claim in the world of dark, abstract house. He appeared on each of the Exchange Place EPs that Qu's Strength Music (and later Anderson's Inimeg Recordings) pressed up, as well as a 2012 EP for London's bliq imprint. But "Thoughts Of You," the B1 on Strength Music's Semesters III compilation, is his defining moment so far. It's as surreal as anything Anderson or Qu has produced, but where those two tend towards introversion, Nicuri lends the aesthetic an expansiveness that feels altogether new.
The Outflight EP—appearing on Yygrec, a Japanese label that's already released a Qu 12-inch and an Anderson mix CD—is Nicuri's latest, and it gets back-to-basics more than the rest of his 2014 output. The title cut still trades in big, pulsing synths and mile-wide pads, but melodically it's more uniform and predictable, oscillating between two notes for its entire five-minute run. "Ascension" plays it less safe, assembling the sort of unholy textural combination Exchange Place does so well: brassy pads, delayed FM trickles, sharp-as-knives percussion and melancholic bass. It's not the most inventive cut Nicuri has cooked up with these ingredients, but it's certainly not run-of-the-mill.
Wrapping things up, "On Thin Ice" focuses on percussion, pumping the mix thick with all manner of bass booms, cymbal slices, snare rolls and pitched hits while a comparatively staid synth keeps the balance up top. In all, Outflight feels more provisional than the releases that have preceded it this year, and sounds like it could have come from an earlier stage in his studio development. None of this changes the fact that Nicuri has marked himself out as one to watch. And I, for one, am excited to hear him grow.
TracklistA1 Outflight
B1 Ascension
B2 On Thin Ice