DnB Fix 036 – Wardown EP

Published on 2020-11-11 00:00:00 by Liohness

It’s an eponymous project from Pete Rogers of Technimatic up this week; With all the intensity of a Technimatic outing, yet even more personal and experimental. Emotive yet tranquilising, Wardown is that little bit of catharsis we all need.

Is this a concept album? well, kind of. The axis of this album is the town of Luton, with the album name itself referencing a park in Rogers’ hometown. Wardown is a melancholic sojourn through the most gorgeous of soundscapes. Featuring many samples from Rogers own youth entwined with the recognisable ragga accapellas from Jungle, and stabs of soul found in House, cuts from documentary, recordings of deceased family members, and field recordings from the town of Luton itself.

This album is a melting pot of absolute liquid gold; haunting, beautiful, somewhat ethereal. It’s sonically huge, offering wistful tunes built from layers of the cinematic, with amens and 2-steps that weave in and out of focus. It’s easy to get lost in the more experimental sonics of Wardown, to then resurface and roll along with the mighty amen rhythms on tunes such as ‘Culverhouse’. This track is a colossal smash of euphoria, with a soul sample that touches your own.

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Blu Mar Ten · Wardown 10-minute Album Preview

‘Ferric’ is also one of the standouts here, a 2 step garage style loop rattles above a massive bassine, amidst that cheeky flute sample we’ve all heard somewhere and notable ragga accapellas.

The album moves in and out of the more drum focused tracks with gorgeous transitions between each new idea on Wardown. When drums drop out of the foreground, the sublime vocal samples glisten and glide in to focus, set in a sea of lush synths, FX, and wide pads.

Nostalgic feelings linger over Wardown and thus Blu Mar Ten Music is the unmatched home for an album such as this; it’s exquisite and wistful, it’s complex yet weighty atmospheric 170, and may be the most beautiful thing you’re likely to hear for sometime.

Out now on Blu Mar Ten Music.

Written by Liohness