New Music: Pangaea – In Drum Play

Label co–founder of Hessle Audio Kevin McAuley, releases his Debut LP under his guise of Pangaea. Ten tracks of stripped–back techno venturing through realms of club floor fillers to more experimental ambient Zones.

Fluttering frequencies greet us in the opening of the LP with ‘Mutual Exchange‘, a warm kick drum, sizzling percussion and a subtle melody carry us through to open the doors of late night clubland. Track 2 ‘Rotor Soap‘ mixes Simple beats and a good hook from the outset, a smart looping track that morphs through effects. ‘Bulb In Zinc‘ is a swaying dubby track with a dirty attitude, punchy beats and a throbbing bass that‘ll have even the speakers shuffling. ‘More is More to Burn‘ has a retro 80s Techno House feel and proves as a nice little segway into the depths of ‘Scaled Wing‘. Like accidentally walking into the chill out area between floors ‘Scaled wing‘ emerges you into a beatless sound scape of panning wondrous sounds and an underbelly of lower tones, It‘s a short breath to gather yourself back together before we head back onto the club floor with a grimy number ‘One by One‘, Cut vocals loop around stabby strings and fizzing beats with cool pads that carry it along, a nice blend of dark n light. Next up ‘Lofty Can‘ which is a rolling chugger with a good build using cut/sped up vocals and chords. ‘Send it in‘ gets dirty again as we walk through a nightmarish industrial drum loop which slowly becomes hypnotic as we merge into a voodoo vibe with strange flutes and effects, unsettling goodness. Penultimate track ‘Skips Desk‘ Starts with sparse beats and a rave synth line, but not to worry, this doesn‘t get club bore. Pangaea brings the loops and hard beats to shake the bins. We end with ‘DNS‘, thumping beats and morphing loops carry us across held synth notes which rise to a peak that fades slowly leaving us with only the thump of the kick and pulsing white noise.

This is a late night club experience from someone nearly ten years in the game, Dance music with a dark edge, well produced underground warehouse cuts that you won’t want to wear your best trainers to.