- Having emerged from Ibiza last year, Vitalik's mission statement of pairing upcoming artists with established and respected producers continues. Which is which is arguably clearer here than in their previous four releases. The Mole, of course, is heavily involved with the Wagon Repair crew, as an old pal and the instrument by which Cobblestone Jazz is transformed live into The Modern Deep Left Quartet. jozif, meanwhile, is a fabric regular whose stock rose earlier this year with his Chicago EP on Wolf and Lamb.
The EP kicks off with monsieur de la Plante's MMD remix, the heaviest thing here, a peaktime-ization of the original. A solid sledgehammer of a kick stomps along, while the slick tick-tock riff is sensibly kept prominent, but submerged more beneath a melange of vocal delay. The original itself, like jozif's other two tracks, is choppier, driven by a more acoustic, more complex drum programming. The two note pattern, again, runs like clockwork through the track, a cool example of effectiveness in simplicity. The rhythmic details fit together in a kind of pointillistic deepness, with occasional synth stabs darkening and thickening the palette. The regular fabric slots show through: it's easy to imagine this track building the tension and transitioning Room 1 into the surreal place that is clubland.
Space is the word for "I Can Read Your Mind." A simplistic bassline repeats throughout, with a straight beat, as overhead, vibrating pads hover and a repeated vocal sample push things forward. Abstract, individual percussive elements sit alone and bounce off each other. This, and the resulting slow, yet unstoppable motion, is really the thing that jozif does well. A Vitalbit tool is included in the Vitalik tradition, giving one minute of textured pad looping. "Zeska" is my personal favourite, ambient fan as I am, with innocent pads orbiting, and a tastefully processed vocal sample vibrating throughout.
Tracklist 01. Coca Grande (The Mole's MMD mix)
02. Coca Grande
03. I Can Read Your Mind
04. Zezka
05. I Can Read Your Mind (Vitalbit remix)