- La Beauté De Négatif is a young label whose first two releases came from relatively obscure artists. There were ramshackle jams from boss man Rawmance on the first, while the second offered meandering techno from Finnish duo Toisvesi. Both were promising, and this new compilation EP feels like a real statement of purpose. With Italian producer Neel on the A-side and Seattle's jack-of-all-trades Chris Roman (AKA J.Alvarez) on the flip, La Beauté De Négatif's third release paints the label as an outpost for haunting, melancholy dance music.
After soft, hypnotic collaborations with Donato Dozzy as Voices From The Lake and an ambient solo album, the upfront hi-hats and rumbling bassline of Neel's "Snow In The Tube" hit pretty hard, though it still swells with the grace of his best work. Rawmance's "United Banlieues" sounds a bit rougher, until a sonorous synth lead introduces a tinge of sadness that tempers its electro stutter. Roman's stellar "Suncid" drapes over the entire B-side, moving away from the straightforward house music that usually characterises this alias in favour of a crestfallen acid sound. Roman treats his nine minutes more like a canvas than a grid, tracing squelchy lines in elegant patterns for the most sublime moment on La Beauté De Négatif yet.
TracklistA1 Neel - Snow In The Tube
A2 Rawmance - United Banlieues
B1 J.Alvarez - Suncid