Ramon Tapia returns with loopy hypnotic Techno, old-school original influences, and fresh techniques and production on this infectiously groovy stormer titled “Circular” EP off Christian Smith’s Tronic Label.
Sureshot beats are featured heavily on this release from Tapia, who sometimes brings out his more Progressive side with Drumcode, to Skint, to Bedrock, and occasionally delves deeper into rougher-edged Techno such as this “Circular” EP. From the sound of things, it’s a really great fit. It’s possible that audiences aren’t looking for the Big Room aesthetic anymore, especially when the super fast, high bpm Hard Techno’s impressive and easily more digestible. If you’re not on board with that, where do you go? One answer to that could be to investigate an older path to try and find a better way to get through.
In this EP, Ramon Tapia goes full circle by exploring the older, more loopy driving cuts that the Tronic Label is well known for in the past but is also exploring possibilities within that realm that allow for new ideas to push forward into the future. Not much is advanced here. The context has changed, and there’s a lot more clarity in the complexity between the events, whereas in the past you’d mix live into a Mackie 1604 and smash everything into a DAT via DBX compressor and call it a day. You can definitely hear more separation as well as more subtle compression ideas gluing it all together in the track “Organ Grinder,” as well as very clean, digital bass warming up the low end on “System 5” as well as some deep Techno aesthetics on the arpeggiations in that track.
But “Circular” is a full investigation into the old 1998 Techno aesthetics with new processing. As we’ve seen with Hertz hitting the number one chart, people are responding to this aesthetic in a big way. This could be the foundation of something based on old concepts and taking it into a new context. Maybe we made a left turn somewhere on the rise of laptop-based Minimal Techno in 2000, so let’s see where this goes.
In summation, Ramon Tapia presents what can be seen as a break away from his bigger releases into a more personal exploration into his past. Aside from that, it’s a superbly done EP that is really at home in the hypnotic grooves and gives off peak time vibes perfect for the small club or warehouse. “Circular” EP is a fully enjoyable release by Ramon Tapia. Looking forward to seeing where he takes this style in the coming year.
-Sean Ocean
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