Robin Ordell
Monopolar EP
[Eklo]
With the Monopolar EP, Robin Ordell has delivered a varied, sonically impressive release that takes influences from deep house, dub techno and tech house to create a unique, interesting melting pot of depth, punch and melody.
For Fucking Years is a slow-burning weapon. Starting out fairly innocuous with a heavily reverbed, ambient intro (complete with detuned pianos), before a thunderous 909 kick drum punches through the mix. Choppy 808 percussion breaks up the groove, which is rounded out with a beautiful incessant synth that just sneaks its way into your head and never leaves. Throughout the tune each of these fairly minimal elements are subtly tweaked and built upon, creating a track which eventually turns into a chunky dancefloor bomb despite its humble beginnings. Ben Vedren’s remix later in the EP essentially works as a cleaner, more bouncy re-edit of the original, removing all the washed-out reverb and replacing the rough percussion with tight, snappy rhythms. Next up, Monopolar takes a slightly more accessible deep/tech house approach in the vein of artists like Seuil and Rene Breitbarth. Beautiful in its simplicity, Monopolar relies on a super low, crunchy bassline that puts its stripped-back, linear groove to work. The addition of reversed and chopped-up Moog stabs and piano improvisations helps to fill out the track, though this is definitely one for the more patient listener.
Please Police offers a laid-back, pleasant experience to finish the EP, combining the low-end grit of classic dub techno with the fun, uplifting warmth of modern deep house. The spacey, reverbed sound effects and slightly overdriven percussion contrast with the jazzy Rhodes stabs, pitched-up chords and well-rounded bassline wonderfully, creating the kind of track that will appeal to a wide range of dancefloors.