Behind The Fields

Fresh Meat's 25th release makes good on the promise of family by returning to the burgeoning talent of our German compadres Adryan and Sandrino. For "Behind The Fields," the young producers create two slick deep house tracks that are a continuation of their cosmically influenced musical journey. For grit, we invite Tuomas 'Phonogenic' Salmela, fresh off his recent hit on Turbo Recordings, to serve up one of his signature reinterpretations. This installment begins subtly with "The Deepest". As is their custom, Adryan and Sandrino arrange their opener with maximum restraint, building each musical part with elemental precision. Their music is categorically electronic with modulated wind effects, synthetic chord stabs and long sweeping pads, but the center is a warmly beating and throbbing heart of percussion and swing. Midway to the finish, echoed distorted guitar lines bring to mind the image of a space suited Carlos Santana jamming on the dust covered Lunar surface. To be sure this is dark music, but "The Deepest" is light on its feet by way of congas, analog hi-hats, shuffling shakers and disco inspired claps and snares. For his remix of "The Deepest", Phonogenic takes original elements like the deep space sirens and the skippy filtered stabs and adds his own memorable wah-wah guitar, subsonic bass line and jackin' drum kit. With seeming ease Tuomas transforms the melancholy original into a head nodding prime time thumper. As he's achieved with past work on Cocoon and 20:20 Vision, here again, Tuomas teases out every bit of funk and hypnotic groove from the original music. Third on the track list is this EP's most esoteric offering, "Dark Matter". Here Adryan and Sandrino travel into uncharted territory with a host of synthetic drum and percussion tones seemingly toying with how deep into the darkness they dare go. Hi pitch whistles and fluttering single oscillator drones mingle with lower-than-low tom and bass rumbles. Staccato keys seems to fall over each other landing miraculously in perfect swing relationships to the rhythm. The track's cavernous break down is followed with simple piano stabs rising first as blips from the groove, then opening up and leading the sonic charge into outer realms. Adryan and Sandrino unapologetically push current house music fashion, inventing a sonic tapestry which will intrigue heady listeners.