“SELEWSIN 3” is Techno with a trippy Italian twist, tasty ear candy, and a dash of Detroit and dub influences.
When people think of Italy, there are generally a few things that come to mind: pizza, pasta, gelato, frescoes, or maybe even grottos. Despite endlessly imaginable associations and stereotypes, two major and often overlooked cultural exports from Italy are dance music and nightclub culture. While big names immediately come to mind like Marco Carola, Joseph Capriati, and so on, the foundation of the Italian scene also had a deep and long-established underground ethos.
A vibrant postwar industrial economy sowed the seeds for Italy’s global dominance in modern design. Meanwhile, a youth counterculture movement of designers and architecture students known as the Italian Radicals began growing in opposition to social stratification in 1960’s Italian life. Although unfortunately labeled as “radicals”, their primary focus was on collectivity by creating temporary, experimental, and reconfigurable spaces focusing on resisting commercialization and questioning cultural norms. Venues like Piper Club, L’Altro Mondo, Space Electronic, and many more events paved the way for an early heyday of Italian club culture, blazing the trail for the glory days of Italo Disco ahead.
Since that time, and despite many ongoing challenges, the Italian scene is still alive and thriving. With a high overall unemployment rate, high cost of living, and one of the highest public debt levels in the world, the future is uncertain for many Italians, especially young people. Now knowing the backstory of the Italian Radicals from before, it should then come as no surprise that many similar strains of underground and DIY dance music are flourishing now more than ever: Techno in particular.
There are many new producers to keep an eye out for, but if Selewsin keeps up the pace, then his name will be all-too familiar soon. Here he returns to Pushmaster Discs for his third solo EP on the label, “SELEWSIN 3,” and shows an impressive versatility in production skills throughout the release.
Each track demonstrates how “simple but elegant” can be one of many effective approaches to making Techno. Selewsin seems to achieve this effortlessly by focusing on carefully selected sounds and masterfully constructing arrangements around them. The opening track, “The pureness,” is an apt description with driving drums, a single chord stab, catchy arp melody, and raw rave energy. After that is “Detroit Serenade,” which although a bit more restrained, maintains the momentum with groovy and slightly swung rhythm, jazzy chords, and soulful melodies.
“Racoon” is the most straightforward and driving track on the EP; a perfect peak-time roller begging for big room action. After that, take a sip from a psychedelic-spiked cocktail on “Candy Flippin’”, and go down the rabbit hole to some stomping drums, a wobbly organ, mysterious melodies, and formant shifted fm synths. Selewsin signals the comedown is commencing on “The Sky As My Canvas”, with bouncy percussion programming and an ethereal melody floating freely in the background. Finally, the closing track “Afterparty” seamlessly intertwines techno, trance, and progressive into something fresh and is reminiscent of a time when genre boundaries were a lot more loose or harder to define.
After multiple listens, this release reveals a refreshing level of depth and attention to detail that one would expect from a veteran producer with decades of experience. Hearing the vinyl crackles and the vintage-inspired analog sounds might fool you into thinking that this was released decades ago but instead, it comes from a relatively young, unknown, but up and coming artist, Selewsin.
Timeless sounds and pure vibes.
-Alex Dahm
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