Italian DJ/producer Buck (a.k.a. Alessandro Stefanio) has an ear for beautiful music. Through his DJ sets at clubs including Watergate, Wilde Renate, Tresor, Kater Holzig and Club Der Visionaere and productions for Undercut, Margot Records, Safari Numerique, and Alphahouse, he’s a tireless champion of blissful techno and deep, melodic house.
This year Buck launched his new label, Substrato. On November 25 he will release Sub003, the imprint’s third release by fellow countryman Dorian Gray (a.k.a. Moreno Mariotti). The EP is perfectly aligned with Buck’s sensibility. He even lends his mixing touch to the EP by remixing the ethereal track “An Extraordinary Day On The Exoplanet.”
On the eve of the EP’s release, Buck shares some of the underground sounds he’s loving at the moment.
1. Donato Dozzy – “Vaporware 07”
I really love Donato Dozzy, especially in this dreamy trip. Constituent elements become warped echoes, distorted by memories of having first heard them ten minutes ago, 30 minutes ago, or almost a year ago when the original piece came out. Dozzy has an impeccable feel for timing — he knows exactly how long to let each track hang, when to introduce a new loop and when to move on to a fresh rhythm. This sensibility is the perfect complement to Madak’s ear for texture and melody. The end result is a close-up look at how many different ways a sound can be interpreted and bent into new shapes. A project like this could easily become an indulgent mess, but it’s testament to the quality of the craftsmen involved that Plays Bee Mask remains consistently fascinating.
2. Polar Inertia – “Black Sun” (Abdulla Rashim Remix)
Abdulla Rashim’s take on “Black Sun” is more difficult to classify. It could be the soundtrack to a frantic chase through a windswept forest, leaves rustling and unseen creatures cooing as you scurry past — though you’ll have to be careful not to trip over the cleverly placed drops along the way. It’s another wily effort from the Swedish producer, and it finishes a record that confirms DEMENT3D’s status as one of today’s most intriguing techno imprints.
3. Skymn – “Okuyi” (Original Mix)
Skymn allows us to experience the hypnotic trance evoked in voodoo rituals by ancient African cults. With mud up to their knees, bonfires brazing and bone suits rattling in harmony with the beat, the congregation creates a vibe that is almost corrosive. Cannibalistic fetishism, unholy vibrations and maddening techniques of ecstasy that joins the living with the dead.
4. Remote – “Echo of You”
A musical duo composed by Eric Guillanton and Seb Fouble, Remote is recognized today as one of the figureheads of the French electro scene. I love this deep and dreamy track on the one of my favorite labels, Fields Records.
5. Limo – “Fluid Identity” (Edit Select Remix)
This is the first release of my new label Substrato, by Limo (a.k.a. Giovanni Limongelli). He wastes no time in establishing the label’s sublime fusion of ageless, pre-human beauty with contemporary, manmade tools and techniques. Hard and impermeable beats represent the “geological” side of the label’s identity (also represented by Ignazio Mortarello’s captivating 12″ package design), while a heady blend of organic electronics testifies to the feelings achieved by climbing high above sea level. Edit Select almost effortlessly makes a 1:1 mixture of earth-moving rhythm with Limo’s expansive atmospheres and contemplative keystrokes. This track will always remain in my heart because actually represents what I want to express in my DJ sets, a mixed hypnotic trip to dreamy melodies.