'Blue 01' is a dazzling record, a split 12” featuring Tessela’s 'Glisten' and Lanark Artefax’s 'Touch Absence'. The release comes from Whiti.es, a London based label that since it’s birth in 2014 has been making waves in the scene with gritty and imaginative music that hovers somewhere around the experimental techno and house area. The mischievous younger sibling of the hugely successful label Young Turks, Whiti.es has been in the rare position of having clout from the moment of its inception. Perhaps for this reason, or maybe because of the renegade attitude and excellent taste of the label’s head Nic Tasker, Whiti.es has been releasing fantastically inventive music from the get go, including records from Avalon Emerson, Reckonwrong and Kowton.
'Blue 01' is no exception. Although the tracks were not written to be a pair, they complement one another incredibly well. The first, 'Glisten', was picked up by Whiti.es when Joy Orbison dropped it into his 2016 essential mix. It is a glitchy, bass-heavy track that is begging to be played out in a big, sweaty room. The trippy, thundering low end storms in within the first few bars, and roots the track throughout, as it is embroidered with a bleepy high end, distorted vocal samples and rattling high-hats. Although the track follows a traditional structure, with a breakdown in the middle leading into a climactic rebuilding of the different layers, the track’s sound is thrillingly unfamiliar. Melody changes come at unexpected times, and different sounds rise and fall into and out of dominance almost imperceptibly.
'Touch Absence' was released as a dubplate a year or so back by Whiti.es, but, like 'Glisten', has been remastered for this release. Also characterised by deep, sturdy drums, the track has a drum and bass-like percussion pattern. The track is fast paced and changes constantly, never allowing you to settle into one rhythm for too long before something is altered. Unearthly vocals creep in at points, and a gorgeously disruptive, gritty drum hammers out a fluctuating rhythm whilst plucky synths fade in and out in the background. Overall the track is truly unique, and builds slowly in intensity throughout, constantly keeping you on your toes as it chops and changes, somehow never losing its momentum.
Coupled up, these two tunes form a true tyrant of a record. It’s no wonder the vinyl sold out soon after its release-keep your fingers crossed for a reissue and get this into your collection.
Words: Dora