“Nothing Is Real is a Glenn Astro universe riding out listeners for a 13-track long haul of buoyant club jams, spacey, washed-out dub cuts and crisp broken beats”
A Tartelet Records sweetheart, not to forget his tasteful releases on Ninja Tune and Apollo, the Berlin-based artist Glenn Astro spotlights once again an experimental project, ‘Nothing Is Real‘. With an eye for detail and six new fictional collaborators drawn from his brain, he revives the sublime and sultry aesthetics of an impeccably compiled 90s club mixtape.
Sharp dancefloor strains, woozy downtempo chill-out room electronics, dust crackling breakbeat courtesy of imagined aliases ‘Brain Liquor‘, ‘Dj 1999‘, ‘Mental Trance‘, and the likes carve an eloquent sound specific to each persona, groovy to the core. Astro points out in bold ‘Nothing Is Real‘, but his intricate personification of the cast unmistakably passes any of them as old-school creators of the early 00s without a trace.
At the behest of his alter egos, Astro interprets familiar sounds as a free-minded producer devising a playful, nostalgic treat, adding ambiguity to genres from the blueprint years of club music whilst the rarities of his textures keep reminiscence in check.
As Mental Trance, Astro soaks a sound system in silk-like atmospherics with the ‘Intro Track‘ or ‘Intersection‘ an ambient, dub-techno dream-haze, so riveting and fresh. Plunging into deep waters is Brain Liqour’s wonky, immersive sub-basslines in ‘Blame It On‘ followed close by an amorphous ‘Jaque?‘ on squelching 303s and a shape-shifting machine funk.
Eye Soul8r brings more funk with a trip hop-inflected slapping rhythm on ‘Autumn Subs‘ and yet another Detroit-infused wriggly drum mechanics on ‘The Wheel Of Steel‘. Steering with two simultaneous heaters is The Foundation, aka Astro’s ‘Steppers Worldwide, Unite!‘ injecting strains of breakbeat hardcore and dubstep alongside an added robotic snippet on ‘I Like It‘.
‘Nothing Is Real‘ is a Glenn Astro universe riding out listeners for a 13-track long haul of buoyant club jams, spacey, washed-out dub cuts and crisp broken beats. Consider it a time machine made for deep indulgence in versatile settings, provoking sentiments for days gone by, yet, blissfully present and revelling of a future to come.
‘Nothing Is Real’ is scheduled for release on 4 May via Tartelet Records. Order a vinyl copy from Inverted Audio Store.
TRACKLIST
A1. Mental Trance – Intro Track
A2. Crystalline reality – The Growl [Crystalline Mix]
A3. Eye Soul8r – Autumn Subs
A4. Brain Liquor – Blame It On
A5. DJ 1999 – The Abyss
B1. Brain Liquor – Jaque?
B2. Crystalline reality – The Growl [Night Mix]
B3. Mental Trance – Metall Trance
B4. The Foundation – Steppers Worldwide, Untite!
B5. DJ 1999 – Almost Pleasant
