Ian Blevins Electronic & Dance 3 Artikel

After incredibly well received EPs on labels including ESP Institute and Futureboogie and following on from his remix for Machete Savane on Not An Animal, Ian Blevins makes his original material debut for the label with The Birds / Locate yourself. The Birds allows Ian to showcase a deeper and more linear house sound than he's previously revealed, yet still retains a distinctively skewed approach, which continues to throw up genuinely surprising moments through the length of the track.Locate yourself sees Ian return to the familiar anthemic territory that he exhibited with last years smash hit 0.95Hannibal0.95. The track balances a broadness of scope and breadth of scale, with a precision of emotional intent, all of which makes for a very familiar yet unique voice.

Having already earned his Balearic stripes some time ago, as one of the resident DJs at We Love.... At Space in Ibiza, Ian Blevins has since relocated to Berlin, and has been immersing himself in the esoteric vibes of the city. On the strength of his latest EP on Futureboogie, this is clearly a good thing, as the ‘Round Trip’ EP is laden with the deep magical vibes that have also shaped his recent releases on labels like Banoffe Pies, Not An Animal Records, Blind Jacks Journey and ESP Institute.On ‘Round Trip’, an abundance of driving, arpeggiated synthesizers weave around sparse yet sturdy drumbeats, as thick pads rise and fall in dramatic fashion. Panthera Krause (Permanent Vacation/Riotvan/Lobster Theremin)is on board for the remix of ‘Round Trip’, re-shaping the original into a merry, space organ led, tribal dance; with a splash of garage house vibes that soon become immersed in its own synth heaven, it’s a cracking remix from the Leipzig based producer.On ‘Roland’s Rat’, Blevins keeps things tight with soaring strings, organ stabs a strolling bassline for a quality jam, whilst ‘Can You Count My Dream?’ is a dense, and cinematic slab of transcendental dance, an almost claustrophobic atmosphere only intensifies the drama and delivers the heat that seals this superb EP from Blevins.

Ian Blevins is the keeper of the jewel in the crown. This is his second offering for the ESP Institute. Picking up right where we left off, side A unleashes another explosive big room belter with Resumé—a driving rhythmic monster that takes advantage of the whips and cracks in Ian’s drum machine arsenal, while warm chords lay a foundation for a quirky lead melody and rubbery pulse to dance upon. Akin to Hannibal, Blevins‘ ESP Institute debut in 2015, the arrangement here toys with us before revealing the true guts of the track—this time characterized halfway through by a punctuating gangster piano hook. On side B, Poor Old Head utilizes Ian’s signature drum styling we’ve come to adore, but here he establishes swells of melancholy via bending notes that meow and purr, beautifully ebbing and flowing though an array of incongruous dial tones and bells—shakey and barely out of sync, yet cradling a loosely drawn chord progression.These two songs will smack you up before they rub you down.