La Source is brand new material and is steeped in the warmth of this trailblazer’s past productions. Soft, bass brushed, pads are dusted with a loose layer of percussion as structures take shape.
Keys echo and scale while beats grow in confidence
Quality, not quantity. The axiom holds true in a number of areas, but it works especially well when running a record label. Likemind has lived by this philosophy. In its twenty seven year lifetime, the imprint has only put out five records (although four of them came out between 1993 and 1995.) The HOLOVR 12” of 2017 maintained the sheer quality of the earlier releases almost three decades ago. However, something was missing with the return of Likemind. The mysterious founder, Nurmad Jusat, had not returned with the reboot.
Jusat, aka Fugue, aka Nuron featured on all four previous Likemind releases with his techno style becoming a standard of excellence in the UK canon. Rumours circulated over the years as to who this mysterious figure was and where he was, a popular claim was he had left music and took to the land as an organic farmer. Despite his low output level, roughly twelve tracks in total, the depth of his future gazing compositions has transcended his years of absence. Whether Jusat was ploughing fields or not is no longer important, not in comparison to the news that Nuron is back, returning for the first time since 2001.
La Source is brand new material and is steeped in the warmth of this trailblazer’s past productions. Soft, bass brushed, pads are dusted with a loose layer of percussion as structures take shape. Keys echo and scale while beats grow in confidence, lines of melody emerging and submerging in this richly textured piece. Remixes make up the B-Side with the originals coming from Kirk Degiorgio’s recent album Communion. “Specialist” is the first to be reinterpreted. Bright tones and shades introduce the piece, brittle rhythms swirling in whimsical changes. Delicate and gentle, this remake is a fragile homage to the original with its organic and understated ebbs and flows. A relaxed remix of “Emanation” ends the EP. The Detroit infused strings of the As One version are maintained as Nuron slows proceedings right down. Beats skud as an expansive melody descends in this beautifully vast closer.
La Source is bound to create a stir. A slew of comparisons will circulate. The sound of then and now, the equipment used, the past pitted against the present. Rather than getting bogged down in such an exercise, sit back and enjoy the return of a true master of techno (not to mention The Designers Republic sleeve art.) This 12”, the first from Musat in a very long time, is a superb addition to his already sublime back catalogue. Immersive thought-provoking electronic music, savour every long awaited minute of it.
La Source is available on De:tuned.
