Varying from addictive electro disco and cosmic creations to earthy techno and playful abstraction. A brave first EP that pushes boundaries without losing itself in the process.
Few cities have as fertile a terrain for electronic music than Rotterdam. The Netherlands capital for all things techno, electro, house and beyond is the home of a spread of artists and labels alike. Shooting forth its first shoots comes a new imprint. Hupu Records has just released its first EP, a split 12” between Vorticon and label boss Aiden.
Aiden told me that little is known about Vorticon, simply “when a black hole opens and the right stars align Vorticon appears.” “Ruimteschip” is the mysterious musician’s first offering and is pure gold. Bold and daring synthlines are balanced by clean beat patterns as indecipherable vocoder lyrics spiral skyward. First rate dancefloor dynamite by anyone’s standards. Although “Soma” continues to explore similar astral avenues , the track has a more introspective aspect with its arcing melodies and subtle shifts. Aiden mentions that “After releasing E.P.’s on labels as Manual music, Loki records, Temparc Music and a full length album on Cinematique Records all digitally he decided to get things more physical and started up his own imprint: Hupu records.” He adds that he “avoids producing music with certain genres or formulas in mind.” That is undeniably the case with “Walk the Line.” Cascading over a solid kick drum are guitar strings and reverberating notes. As the head honcho said, the style of this track is quite hard to pin down. What it does have is a building groove and an energy that bends and grows as the piece develops. “Mars Manners” is the finale of the quartet and toes a similarly individual line to “Walk the Line.” Strings are countered by a thick haze of prickly bass with claps keeping time. The piece lurches into outright noodling with funk rinsed squawk breaking those soft keys in this devil may care closer.
From talking with Hupu’s founder it is clear that this new label has a range of influences and is not afraid to forge its own path. This is plain to hear in this debut 12”. Styles vary from addictive electro disco and cosmic creations to earthy techno and playful abstraction. A brave first EP that pushes boundaries without losing itself in the process.
Split EP is available on Hupu. (Bandcamp, Clone)
