Nous

3 Year Compilation LP ...

For their first release of 2016 Nous Disques takes up where they last left off with another impeccably crafted release, courtesy of the L.A. based producer Dreams, who serves up 5 tracks of gritty goodness on his ‘Off the Grid’ EP. The project kicks off with ‘Chain’, a hissy, analogue, Detroit-scented monster before moving seamlessly into the more stripped down and minimal ‘Voyeur’; closing out side one ‘Red Veil’ glides in mellifluously, immediately reminiscent of Stacey Pullen's trailblazing forays into that space between house and techno. Over on the flip the title track leads with a jubilantly squelchy tribute to Chicago before the fittingly titled 'Night Cap' closes out the EP with a woozy, slo-mo skitter through eerily sparse electronica.

'Beguilingly fizzy electro vibes kick off the debut effort from the latest addition to Nous' ever expanding plethora of talent...' .. TIP! O. Xander's Less is More EP does what it says on the tin with a bare bones aesthetic that pays dividends in the subtlety of its arrangement and an enigmatic viscidity that sits central to each component track, none more so than the nectarous 'Lovers Theme'. Deeper into the EP there is a discernible salute to the Belleville Three and their dilettantish synthesis of sound and sensation on the aptly titled 'Integrity & Intensity', while closing out the collection Michigan's Karen Gwyer contributes a leviathan rework of the propulsive ÔDirac SeaÕ, also included in its original form, with the subsequent version weaving a distended web of imbricated melodies into a rapturous crescendo.

Shortly following the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Suzi Ecto, Call Super opens 2015 with the more dancefloor-adaptable Fluenka Mitsu EP on Nous.Comprising two highly textural productions, opener "Fluenka's Shelf" is a ten-minute, tripping house tool with dubbed-out effects, cosmic motifs, and a warm, thrummed bassline. Flipside, techno abstraction "From Which I Fell" traffics in slower, swung grooves and mesmeric synth loops.