Following a series of mostly self-releases, shadowy Swedish producer Velv.93 debuts for Stroom with the somewhat bafflingly titled Maidstone, a set of deeply immersive, minimalist post-West Mineral electronics that feel beamed in from the underside of 4am. As the choice of title might suggest, we're in the realm of liminal space here, the slow-pulsed drift of ambient techno suggestive of the in-between: of rooms, of stops on the bus, of times on the clock. Stroom is good at this kind of thing - though sonically not precisely the same, see their collection of dissociative, psychogeographic cuts by TRii for comparison - but it's perhaps most in-line with the after-midnight universe of Jolly Discs and associated acts Enchante, RAP, early Thomas Bush et al. Like with those artists, Velv.93 gestures towards the intistitial, seeking out space in the fissures and cavities of the night. These are songs submarine-d under the weight of darkness, making references to the micro dub-transmutations of Chain Reaction, Porter Ricks and fellow countryman Civilistjävel! but very moored to its own land, like Maidstone I guess, situated just out, just above or beneath, or just where you needed to end up.
FFO: Huerco S, RAP, Enchante, Porter Ricks, Civilistjävel!
