It's been a hot minute since I last reviewed a Substantial Audio release, but the label has stuck to their guns and maintained their winning formula. To put it briefly, SUbstantial excel at curating 4 track EPs that give their roster room to breathe and experiment with the different facets of their sound.
Listening to Panix' eponymous EP, you really get a sense of his stylistic sound preferences. All four tracks are bound by a more general 'old school' aesthetic, but the subtle variation between the individual tracks makes for a cohesive EP. Really and truly, I don't think anyone else could have curated this release other than Substantial and Mr Mud. There's an effective balance of the wider sound with enough variation to keep things interesting.
Fans of Coki, Kromestar and Cluekid should be taking note. You can feel the allure of the'08/ '09 golden era throughout the release. 'Regal' and 'Hench' draw for the dubby strings and melodic basslines while 'Ghoul' and 'Wobble 96' go for the froggy wobbles. The end result is four tracks that will set the dance into overdrive. Definitely a release built for the soundsystem.
The Panix EP is out now on Juno:
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I'm slowly getting back into the swing of writing up release reviews. If you're after a review, feel free to hit me up on promoshjuan@gmail.com and we'll see if I can put some pen to paper.