- Looking at Daniel Koehler's Twitter feed, you get the feeling he's excited about, well, everything. He'll big up a Version release after pledging support for London's Siren collective, before pausing to sing the praises of Shazam and Bookogs. His DJ sets are similarly amped and diverse, where corrosive house and techno blends with jungle classics and even bits of trance. His latest single, Oblivious Pools, for Oliver Hafenbauer's Die Orakel, pulls in all those ideas. It feels like a culmination of his work to date.
The EP's three tracks feel like stronger versions of ideas Koehler has explored in the past. "Isle Of The Dead (Mystical Psychosis Version," with its jailbreak kick drums, skyward trance leads and Bristol-informed basslines, resembles "Technicolour" and "Polygon Blast," early tracks he released on Skudge Records. With a few thousand studio hours logged since, their elements are more thrilling and fun.
Koehler also remains willing to indulge his sensitive side. He's salted his previous releases with top-notch ambient intermissions. "Azuma Glide (Commercial Zone Mix)," a mostly ambient track with vocal synths and DX bass, is reminiscent of Oneohtrix Point Never's more pensive moments. The title track's rolling snares and vocal samples feel like drum & bass, but it unfurls at a leisurely 125 BPM. Towards the end, a second bassline hammers home the point, lending a sense of finality to Koehler's best record yet.
TracklistA1 Isle Of The Dead (Mystical Psychosis Version)
B1 Azuma Glide (Commercial Zone Mix)
B2 Oblivious Pool (Invisible Dub)