Elijah - Augmented

  • Bright, catchy and melodic trance.
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  • Contagion Discs is a new label from Gabe Meier, best known for running The Astral Plane label and blog, both important incubators for club music. His new endeavour is highlighting lesser-known acts. The first release comes from Elijah, a founding member of Kansas City's -c, who are behind one of the best online mix series going. Augmented is an EP that's focused on the hypnotizing side of classic trance. These are woolly hippie jams that go on forever, growing laterally instead of working towards a climax. This creates a tension that'll keep you glued to your seat (or the dance floor). "Eli's Oddyssee," for example, is a 16-minute tease, hinting at a resolution that never comes. That might sound frustrating, but riding a simmering high like this for so long becomes its own kind of fun. In addition to tantric jamming and delayed gratification, Elijah's style is defined by its gleeful use of trance's cheesiest textures, including belching basslines and over-the-top vocal samples. It's a dicey tightrope walk that could cross the line of good taste. But there's a subtlety to Elijah's work. This music is about getting stuck in rather than waiting for the next breakdown. In fact, there are hardly any breakdowns on Augmented, just elements that disappear and come back as gradually and surely as the tides. Elijah's Augmented makes for a promising label launch.
  • Tracklist
      01. Augmented (KCMO Mix) 02. Protoquestion 03. Augmented (Ascendent Mix) 04. Eli's Oddysee 05. The Puzzle 06. Eli's Exodus
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