- With last year's Nautil series, Berlin's Hidden Hawaii seemed to be on as fine a form as ever. If anything the label's output has been getting ever more refined, its drum & bass reductions shaded with the dubwise sensibility of Berlin techno. The London-based DB1 supplied the best in the trilogy, bleeding in a subtle warmth where other Hidden Hawaii releases can be a little on the bleak side. The producer goes one better on this follow-up, an untitled two-tracker that's one of label's best releases in years.
Both tracks feature the same basic interplay between a measured halftime beat and the dub chords casting shadows across it. As with any gifted minimalist, DB1 makes these simple elements speak volumes. The A-side is a tad darker, its pooled chords evoking storm runoff on grey urban streets—though a dubby bassline gives it a subtle heft and sway. In the midpoint breakdown, the whole thing drains away completely before swirling back into action. The B-side is constructed similarly, only everything's livelier: the chords are pastel-hued, the beat a fraction more animated. The differences are small, but in such a restrained context they feel decadent.
TracklistA1 Untitled
B1 Untitled