Mohlao

Dutch producer Mohlao is next up on Shipwreck offshoot Deep Sound Channel with a four track EP that showcases his specialist dub techno style. It follows on from top releases by Albert Van Abbe and Mike Parker, and means the label starts 2015 in style. Before now the Dutchman has released on labels like Meanwhile and Other Heights, as well as working as VC-118A on Lunar Disko Records and Tabernacle. This four track EP kicks off with 'Cladistic Mutation', a sparse underwater soundtrack with only the gentlest suggestion of rhythm, lots of reverb and tiny little details that float by like micro-bacterial debris. 'M2' is a more beat driven dub track but is still way below the surface: the kicks are smooth and hunched over, the chords are smeared out in all directions and the atmosphere is lo-fi and grainy. On the flip, 'Grain' gets even more energetic, with firm techno kick drums setting a stern tempo as all sorts of aqueous details and spacious effects pepper the groove. There's a heavenly nature to the pads and an industrial texture to the percussion that makes this a cerebral but physical affair from start to finish. Lastly, 'Neurowaves' closes things down in blissfully dubbed out and horizontal fashion, with large sweeping pads, tweaked filters and evocative little details all placing you firmly under water. Just like the label name suggests, this is seriously deep, comforting and escapist music for the heads.

• 1 Cladistic Mutation
• 2 M2
• 3 Grain
• 4 Neurowaves