- As Roche, Ben Winans has been toiling away quietly in San Francisco since the early '00s, but didn't emerge onto the house scene until around 2012, when he released his Auragan EP on Jamal Moss's Mathematics label. The pairing made sense: Winans' approach to dance music was closely aligned with the psychedelic Chicago style favored by Hieroglyphic Being. He's since experimented with dreamier sounds and sample-based tracks, but the latest Roche 12-inch, AXT, returns to his love for mind-bending hardware jams.
As is the nature of loosely arranged, effects-heavy dance music, these three tracks emphasize exploratory movement over discernible structures, which makes for heady and immersive grooves. Winans excels in that field on "AXT," a nine-minute excursion through glittery ambience and jacking acid house. It takes its sweet time working into a steady roll—all the cosmic synths, 303 bass and muffled drums slowly figuring out how they best fit together—but it's a transportive ride once it does. "Circadian Rhythm" is more direct and equally captivating, with a big earworm of a bassline delivering some warm acid alongside deep melodic overtones. Only "Congé" seems to get lost in its whorl of pads and crunchy percussion, though its tumbling bass sequence keeps the jumble anchored for a nicely focused second half. That kind of give and take, coupled with Winans' innate sense of timing, further strengthens the classic sounds of AXT.
TracklistA1 Circadian Rhythm
A2 Conge
B1 AXT