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12"
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IFEEL 082EP
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The Croatian production powerhouse and disco boogie impresario steps up to International Feel, and takes a left turn into deep space with a new six-track release, Pulsar Diaries. Ilija's discography stretches back to 2003, and over those 20 years he's packed it full with albums, versions, remixes and singles. His releases are often perfectly-penned love letters to '80s boogie, electro and disco, and like postcards from an old flame. On Pulsar Diaries, Ilija delivers a panoramic collection of spaced-out synths and drum machine grooves, dedicated to the planet and our place in the universe. The A side opens up with the blissful, weightless pads of the title track, before it breaks out into filtered stabs over a minimal b-boy bounce. "Delphic Expanse" ebbs and flows like a lunar eclipse, sounding like a futuristic version of Key-Matic's "Breaking In Space", all uprock rhythms and syrupy synth horns as it spins off beyond the asteroid belt. Side A closes out with "Blackburn Tales", a suspenseful and spacious electro rhythm packed with strings and 303 squelch, which you might call anti-gravity acid, if you were so inclined. Side B picks up the tempo with "Fourth Amendment", perfect for the space station discotheque with its sweeping bass filters and ice-cold synth melodies hovering in orbit. "Farewell Theme" takes an introspective moment, slowing the pace to a cosmic 90 bpm and inviting a certain cinematic feel to proceedings. "Ursa Major" is ablaze with cascading drum fills, bubble-wrapped bass riffs and bright synth chords that sparkle like city lights underneath a re-orbiting satellite. Pulsar Diaries is part soundtrack to space travel, part meditation on the human condition, part deep-burning dancefloor dynamo.
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12"
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BRK 012EP
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Leading Croatian artist Ilija Rudman's Higher Ground EP features "Higher Ground," a solo effort, and two tracks coproduced with American producer Boyd H. Jarvis, whose credits include numerous 12"s on such classic labels as Trax Records, King Street Sounds, Movin' Records, and Dance Tracks (to mention a select few). Although releases made in a similar fashion tend to sound somewhat unfocused, the result here is exactly the opposite -- 20 minutes of some of the slickest house music out there, sounding so coherent that dissecting it track by track seems pointless. Equally at home in the club and the convertible.
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