Diskotopia co-founders A Taut Line and BD1982 present their second joint release to kick off 2014.

Now operating from two separate continents, both producers sought to present an EP that didn’t necessarily offer remixes of each others’ work but rather individual representations of sonic starting points. Sample sources and concepts are reinterpreted through a myriad of stylistic influences throughout the four tracks showcased on DSK020 and yet the increasingly apparent but intangible Diskotopia sound is a consistent force.

Following on from the deconstructed opiate dancehall of last year’s Casings EP, BD1982 opens with the undulating Throw Shade. Recorded and mixed in a direct-to-tape fashion, Throw Shade is a minimalist riddim with undeniable energy. Traces of BD1982’s past work are present here along with a itching unrest.

A Taut Line’s mesmerizing Nitriding Portrait LP saw journeys incurred across vast and varying terrains of musicality and Throw Shade Too continues this voyage in fine style. With an electromagnetic pulse at its core, waves of tumbling percussion, emotive pads, poignant metallophones and a 4th world balearic atmosphere push DSK020 past the borders of the known/unknown.

BD1982 offers up a laidback but thunderous cut in the form of MNTNS. Disembodied vocals, haunted trombones and codeine-drenched percussion are the order of the day here. MNTNS basically sounds like an excavated Sade reference track recorded in Lee Perry’s Black Ark studio circa 1977.

A Taut Line closes out DSK020 with the determined pulse of 4TRCK. Masterful percussive sensibilities have always been a core element to A Taut Line productions and there is no shortage of mind-bending polyrhythms here. 4TRCK utilizes some of the familiar, ghostly chants of MNTNS by interweaving into a brooding, celestial workout best suited for a Berlin sunrise.