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Backtracking with Lenzman
Sontag Shogun

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cv313
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Platinum Breakz Vol 4

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Anduin
Blind EP1
Matt Boettke
Digital
Fractals
Brandon Hurtado
Kolectiv, Dexta & Mauoq
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Mako, DLR & Fields
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Nuage
Rahmanee
Frederic Robinson
Summons of Shining...
Tone Color
Stephen Vitiello

Nuage: Paris Calling EP
Translation Recordings

Saint Petersburg, Russia-based Dmitry Kuzmin aka Nuage stands out from the electronic production crowd by being an exceptional talent in so many ways. His production skills are well-developed, his tracks impress for their remarkable craft, and he possesses a gifted melodic command, too. All such qualities are present and accounted for in his latest four-track EP for Translation Recordings, the digital-only release both the follow-up to last year's So Long EP and a teaser for his upcoming Prints of You full-length, due later this summer. Kuzmin's issued drum'n'bass material in the past, but the new EP's concentration is on house- and garage-flavoured tracks.

The title track ushers in the set with an ultra-vibrant slice of high-gloss garage replete with Rhodes chords, radiant synth and piano flourishes, synthetic string accents, and an infectiously grooving beat pattern—the only negative a vocal treatment that, sped up, possesses a rather cartoonish quality. Kuzmin chills the pace to a sultry degree for “You Something Special,” a seductive sparkler whose shuffling strut and soul vocalisms ooze no small amount of R'n'B flavour, and “Aura,” a deeply atmospheric and strings-enhanced riff on soulful house swing. The producer's affinity for luscious and maximal scene-painting carries over into the EP's final cut, “Out of Walls,” a resplendent plunge into synth-heavy house dazzle. It's a word, in fact, that could be used to refer to the Nuage sound in general, given the degree to which each track presents a dazzling blend of organic and electronic elements.

June 2014