Ando Laj - Isle by Diskotopia

ARTIST: Ando Laj
TITLE: Isle
CAT NUMBER: DSK049
RELEASE DATE: 29th November 2019

01. Dog Acid
02. Clear
03. Spa
04. Dous One

Diskotopia winds down 2019 with an exciting label debut from Toronto-based electronic producer Ando Laj. Delivering four beguiling compositions of salient world-building sonics, Ando Laj showcases a unique sound here across Isle, a collection of tracks inspired by the magic and unstable moments found within bootleg live audience recordings. Ando Laj seeks to recreate such transient and electrifying arrangements by utilizing unpredictable sound sources and unexpected sequencing. The results present themselves as hypnagogic side-steps that burrow deep into the psyche, left open to interpretation by each individual listener.

Opening with a chalky and broken percussion workout, Dog Acid soon folds itself into a spatial discipline that seems to drift between states of wakefulness. Cirrostratus washes of synths cleanse the raucous nature of Ando Laj's curious drum programming before culminating in a muggy 303-drenched system error.

Emaciated and decaying primal rhythmic blasts of noise kickstart Clear into motion before an out-of-body bassline synth lead earworms itself into the subconscious. Rising like a plateau formed from an underground volcanic eruption, it's not long before the magma-ridden traces previously present return to claim this composition back unto the shifting Earth.

Spa shifts the nature of what's come before by juxtaposing Bristolian dread drums & bass with heady atmospherics into a parallel fray that's intermittently imitated with a series of binary spasms.

Dous One acts as a kind of epilogue - fusing elements breached previously across Isle into a meditative, Y2K-Chicago recalling downtempo moment of reflection and potential edification.

An inspiring collection of Major Force evocative flipped mutant techno with a back-room-of-the-pub attitude; perfect for off-kilter club sets and on-kilter Diskotopia release binges.