A staple element of high-profile labels such as Hivern Discs and ESP Institute, Brussels-based producer Andrea Mancini alias Cleveland (@clevelandmusicpage) has built something of an impressive reputation over the last few years, establishing a sound signature both convincingly unique and daringly game-changing, as well as setting up a distinctly fresh musical grammar that invites the listener to see under the surface of the standstill techno/house dichotomy through more complex but just as effortlessly enjoyable architectonics.
Complete with a choice duo of remixes courtesy of Beta Librae (@blibrae) and Piezo(@piezopz), Cleveland’s debut EP for Kalahari Oyster Cult sits straight in line with the recreated organic lushness and widescreen vista of his previous installments. Seemingly a straightforward broken-beat affair at first glance, ‘Gamma’ seamlessly slides towards sun-dazed weirdo house terrains with its dripping honey-like melange of dubbed-out synth ripples, distorted machine talk, and foot-shuffling drum work.
A further Arpanet-friendly slab of shapeless electronics, ‘Ora’ levitates in a zone of its own, subtly oscillating betwixt chimey oneirism and crystal-like, arpeggiated brittleness. On the flip, ‘Gamma’ gets a double treat. Turning the track into a proper floor-ready weapon, Pezio alternates sequences of hypnotic melodic shimmer with a stealthily squelchy but dynamic percussive momentum. Adding her trademark playful get-up-and-go whilst retaining the original’s textural quirk, Brooklyn’s Beta Librae explores even further the cheeky vibrancy of Cleveland’s non-formulaic audio semantics to brush a vividly trippy tableau of sorts.
