With his debut EP, Involve Minds, 21 year old Adam Oubkou of Piedmont, Italy announces himself with 4 tracks of uncompromising and affecting minimalist techno. It is a sparse landscape underscored by sustained and evolving drums that will reward purists and newcomers alike. North American and European influences (Hawtin, DubFire; Kraftwerk, Tale of Us) are worn lightly, set-off by a unique sensibility and subjected to a young man’s swagger.
Involve Minds showcases confidence, maturity and an understanding of simplicity that can take years to master. At the same time, the EP is unashamedly raw and unfiltered. These contrasts took root in the recording process itself. All the tracks on the EP were made in the same way: loops at the ready, each was performed and recorded live. In the pull and tension between programming and performing, mechanical artifice and human improvisation, the EP opens up a space that allows for both introspection and dance. Whether in the perpetually driving bass drums or looped vocal samples calling its audience to arms, there is emotion and room for contemplation here, but it is always singularly and unmistakably focussed on the shared experience of the dancefloor. Whatever the context; at home or in a club, alone or together, simultaneously introspective and outward facing, this is music in a minor key that speaks directly to both the individual AND the individual in the crowd in the dark.
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