- Dublin is brimming with young talent at the moment, with labels like Jheri Tracks and Wah Wah Wino issuing stacks of weird music from unfamiliar names. The new Patrúin label offered further insight on this summer's Meryl compilation. Its six new producers shared with many of their colleagues loose links to house and techno and an interest in warped, degraded textures. Most of the tracks sounded two-thirds on the way to a good thing, and this club-facing follow-up, from key label figures Oli and Fes, takes a few steps further down that path.
Oli's two tracks explore contrasting spaces: "LYSmixdwn" is a huge cloud-like mass, all gaseous dub chords and warehouse boom, while "Warped Vision" goes for dry superheated intensity. The latter's chafed IDM melodies and redlining electro swagger make for the EP's highlight. Things get more unruly as Fes takes over on the B-side. "Leather Head" is brooding techno at first, its claps and canned diva samples describing hypnotic loops—then a brash synth lead barges into the foreground, changing the mood completely. "Loss Averse" is a claustrophobic pile-up of clattering atmospherics, percussion and dirty hiss, hitting a roaring ride cymbal climax towards the close.
TracklistA1 LYSmixdwn
A2 Warped Vision
B1 Leather Head
B2 Loss Averse