textura

Albums
Leila Abdul-Rauf
James Blackshaw
David Borden
Build Buildings
bvdub
Corey Dargel
Tom Flaherty
Fogh Depot
Bjørn Fongaard
(ghost)
Nick Gill
Chihei Hatakeyama
High aura'd & Mike Shiflet
Map 165
Maranha & Espvall
Missy Mazzoli
Midaircondo
Jonas Munk
P-Ben
Pearson Sound
Michael Price
PRISM Quartet
Michael Robinson
Sankt Otten
SCNTST
The Sebastians
Sigtryggur Sigmarsson
Matteo Sommacal
Sphäre Sechs
To Destroy A City
Tudor Acid
Mark Vernon
Michael Vincent Waller
worriedaboutsatan

Compilations / Mixes
Supafunkanova Vol. 2

EPs / Cassettes / DVDs / Mini-Albums / Singles
Alex Agore
Ariadne
Aux Field
Disciples
Djrum
EZLV
Future Ghost
Jim Haynes
Mako
[MIIIIM]
Sacco / Lapiana
Scyye
SlowPitch
Marshall Watson

Mako: Do You Feel The Same?
Warm Communications

In a surprising move, Mako (aka Utopia head Stephen Redmore) opts for something other than thunderous belters on his latest Warm Communications outing. Oh, sure, hard-hitting moments do surface on the three-track EP, but for the most part Redmore presents a heretofore unheard side of the Mako persona, one more stylistically open-ended and less specifically wedded to drum'n'bass.

Having said that, “Do You Feel The Same” does most definitely riff on the signature Mako sound, with in this case tribal percussion clatter adding a heavy kick to the track's hammering groove and vocal sample (“I don't love you anymore”). What does surprise, however, is the mid-track interlude that sees the beats drop out and a swirling, synth-drenched episode take over. Not only that, but “All We Can Do” begins with tropical seaside sounds, of all things—hardly the kind of serene detail one would expect to encounter on a Mako production. If anything, the track sounds like something by Nuage more than Mako, given the speaking voices and sound textures that are so abundantly sprinkled across its insistent, bass-swarming pulse. Like “All We Can Do,” “Too Broke To Get It” takes the listener into unexpected territory, specifically a jazz-tinged funk realm whose lustrous swing again suggests Redmore's replicating Nuage's conscious decision to expand his project's vision into new stylistic realms.

One shouldn't perhaps read too much into a single release, and it's possible that the next Mako outing will see a return to the single-focused drum'n'bass style of Redmore's previous output. That said, it's hard not to hear Do You Feel The Same? as an expression of a wilful desire to broaden the Mako sound into new areas.

March 2015