[Vakant]

With the swelling tide of deep house washing over the landscape of electronic music many techno producers have been turning out tracks in this vein as well, whether in order to keep their style current and on-trend or just because they have fallen under the influence of the sound themselves. Others, like Tolga Fidan have continued exploring their signature style, albeit with strains of house creeping in around the edges, evident on his latest release for Vakant.

Full off incidental weirdness and Fidan’s characteristic percussive rolls, the title track builds around bizarre textural effects for four minutes before finally dropping a kick, by which time the eccentric elements are shuffling around each other like caged fighters falling into a cohesive rhythm. However, sampling Timbaland’s take on Rakim’s “It’s been a long time” line from “I Know You Got Soul” is frankly a deal breaker for me. Not only does the sample sit badly in the track, but it makes no sense to have it there in the first place. Thankfully it appears only during the four minute intro, giving you another eleven minutes of “Gaijin” to play around with, free of Timbaland and the conclusively bad execution of mixing hip-hop with techno. Those further eleven minutes are worth hearing too. Other samples appear in the form of female vocal snatches and the horns (or at least a very close approximation of them) from Snap’s “The Power”; the groove is strong and there are many subtle turns and melodies bubbling away to keep things interesting. That said, “Gaijin” is the weakest track here.

The excellent “Drunk Rotations” centers around light, jazzy piano lines that are embellished with Eastern horns and driven by obtuse, tubby bass frequencies. These features, coupled with the more minimal, percussive components of the track land it in the territory between house and techno, a space shared by the digital exclusive track “Alright.” For its part, “Alright” is a more minimal take on “Drunk Rotations,” using its Rhodesy keys sparingly, upping the mutations on the effects and keeping its groove tighter and more stripped back. With the strength of these two tracks I only wonder why the slightly inept “Gaijin” wasn’t relegated to the consolation prize of digital exclusive instead. A very strong EP from Fidan nonetheless and a good taster for his forthcoming album later in the year.