- Music for gleaming skyscrapers and basement clubs.
- Crypto Stock / Beatdown is the first taste of a forthcoming album by LNS and E-GZR, two Wania-affiliated artists who began working together in 2016. On LNS's debut EP, Heliacal Rising, E-GZR did, among other things, some drum programming and a remix. (E-GZR seems to be a mentor as much as a production partner.) They linked up again last year on LNS's Recons One, a highlight of which was "Wasp," an emotional electro track with dense canopies of melody and harmony that felt like an adrenaline rush and a tearful goodbye.
Though Crypto Stock / Beatdown's two tracks also hew close to classic electro, there's more dirt in the mix. That's particularly true of "Crypto Stock." Its bassline resembles a bubbling tar pit, a useful counterpoint for a dazzling set of synth sequences—stabilising chords, lots of sustained tones and a second bassline. Without that squelchy bassline to ground things, "Crypto Stock"'s saturated tones might have been too rich.
E-GZR's own music, which has spanned Robert Hood-schooled minimalism, digi dub and Basic Channel techno, could make for a Hard Wax employee's ideal white label. "Beatdown" is closer in spirit to "Crypto Stock"—especially because of its thick sunshine chords—but its balance between light and dark has more panache. When "Beatdown"'s beaming chords drop out, a dubby groove reveals itself like a trap door, plunging you from gleaming skyscraper to dingy basement club, where this stuff is best enjoyed.
TracklistA LNS & E-GZR - Crypto Stock
B E-GZR - Beatdown (Wania 12" Mix)