Vivid side of dub techno dominates the third instalment of “Reflexions”, put together by the Canadian label Echo Locations. Last year an EP of its co-founder Mark Adam Paul caught my attention and the new four-tracker helps to keep the imprint on the radar.
The first shift belongs to Xyiz (“Shorty Meadow”), by sound sharing the booth with fellow countrymen Erik Jabari and Fadi Mohem. Representing rolling breed of 140+ BPM dub techno, he mixes it with aquatic bubbles and shuffled chords. Beka Wu from Tbilisi (“Chi Chops”) plays with vocal bits (or chops) and subtle snares over the echoing passages. In an equally tempo-laden cut, New Yorker Okocz adds darker tones to “The Labyrinth Has Flooded”, taking us for nine minutes to a no-escape room beneath the surface of Mars. The Canadian artist LOPØLO comes closest to the classic dub techno, “Triangulum” being a sultry journey that rounds up a well-balanced EP.