Nomine Path / Peace / Lost / Mantra

The first release on Nomine Sound is a solid four-track EP from label founder Nomine,a man with over twenty years’ experience in dance music.

NS001 follows from Nomine’s work for Tempa by looking to the east for inspiration, a stark dread and calm zen zoning out the dance. ‘Path’ is a worthy continuation of Nomine’s acclaimed ‘Blind Man’, weaving a sample from Kung Fu Grasshopper over a bed of tumbling drums, plucked strings, and sub pressure. Having centred yourself, slide into ‘Peace Please’ and focus on the lingering flute melody, the flourishes of X=X’s guitar and haunting vocals from iustina to deepen your meditation. On the B-side, open your crown chakra for ‘Lost’ as iustina returns to add a melodic depth to the floating strings and subtle skank of the drums and bass. ‘Mantra’ closes the session with a looping prayer and subtle acid lines leading you towards inner peace.

Nomine is the alias of Andrew Ferguson, who began his career as a drum & bass DJ in 1995 under the name Rage (later renaming himself Outrage to avoid confusion with the legendary MC of the same name). Over the past two decades, Ferguson has had releases on Metalheadz, Commercial Suicide, and Tempa, toured the world more times than anyone should, set up his own pirate station, and collaborated with Bill Laswell’s experimental fusion outfit Methods of Defiance. Ferguson returned to the music world in 2012 as Nomine following a short break and, when he isn’t back on the decks or in the studio, can be found teaching Advanced Music Production at the University of Bedford.