Nomine is back home at Tempa’s 99th slab of minimalist dubstep. In the tradition of his past releases, we are bestowed with two mystikal 140 pieces and another technoid excursion into swampier pastures, and like his past releases, Nomine focuses on what makes Tempa the label it is; brooding atmospheres, eye-rattling sub weight and heaving percussion.
Opening with the cinematic and scene setting ‘Blind Man’, Nomine’s crafts a sino-influenced number that heralds back to when Horsepower and Kode9 mined imported kung fu VHS’s for samples. In ‘Blind Man’ the sample is grafted from the beloved TV series Kung Fu. A menacing, building Japanese string motif is dubbed out and almost sounds like a Mezzanine-era Massive Attack beat. Elsewhere, Nomine liberally applies a conversation between master and student on the nature of sensory perception and the hidden worlds overlooked by the absent-minded individual. Heavy woodblock snares bang like a gavel while running water and the songs of birds are woven in between the rhythmic space.
In contrast to the meditative ‘Blind Man’, ‘Nomine’s Robot’ drops the tempo down to more house/techno flavors and sets its crosshairs for the shufflers. Crisp, worldly percs and sludgy mid-range make you wanna scuff up your dancing shoes. Mid-way through, a wheezing melodic drone scans the astral plane for multi-dimensional mind escapism that adds a nice reflective touch to an otherwise floor functional DJ tool.
Lastly, Nomine saves the best for last with ‘To the Sky’ which features etheral vocalizations from Iustina. Gossamer and lavender vocal improvisation arcs across sruti drones and shimmering field recordings of wind chimes. DnB-like percs and gruff ‘06 still mid-range wubs give teeth the beautiful arabesque proceedings before the mind loses it’s relationship with the body.
TEMPA099 is out now and available from Juno Download.
