Stateside producer Tano has thoroughly gripped our ears with his In Armatura label; thus far a home for exclusively his own music, the third release shows no sign of a dip in quality, with five slices of vibrant, UK-inflected dance music.
It seems there are more and more artists out there dedicating time to cutting their own cloth when it comes to releasing their own music, with Bandcamp being the obvious enabler of this. Despite this, few artists reach the levels of prime cut that we’re accustomed to hearing through larger, thoroughly-established labels. Tano hits this benchmark with apparent ease, with each of the In Armatura releases to date holding several cuts that will easily find a home with DJs playing off-centre, leftwing dancefloor cuts across the tempo range.
‘In Armatura 003‘ follows suit. From twitchy beats to euphoric breaks with an eyes-down chewy centre, the EP consists of five tracks that keep the listener guessing. Small shock, then, that Tano’s past releases have been given playtime from the likes of ommnivorous dance scene stalwart Ben UFO, re:ni and more.
‘Step Into Vesuvio‘ closes the EP with a lava-hot flourish. A tense atmospheric intro erupts into a cool, broken rhythmic rain on percussion, superbly spacialised for maximum dancefloor psychedelia, interspersed with fragments of breaks that cut through like a cool wind. Whatever restraint exercised in programming the fluctuating percussion is mirrored in energy with the surging, almost dubstep-like bassline, chopped and diced into the urgent final half that reclaims that anticipatory air of the opening passages.
‘In Armatura 003’ is scheduled for release 9 June via In Armatura. Order a copy from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
1. You Know What Time It Is
2. Clockworx
3. Where Did you go?
4. The Last Minute
5. Step Into Vesuvio