Jakarta’s Ecilo joins the freshly minted Groove Disorder imprint for an EP full of clean and cool techno beats with breezy atmospheres and technical grooves on “Silent Muse”.
We’ve most recently seen Ecilo collaborate as a curator, with feature tracks among the ‘Who’s Who’ of the techno scene on Synthetik’s most recent compilation dedicated to LA’s wildfire recovery, “Los Angeles Fire Relief V/A Compilation” which you can find here: https://synthetiksounds.bandcamp.com/album/los-angeles-fire-relief-v-a-compilation
Ecilo’s work has been praised previously on our reviews and featured on labels like ARTS, Jeff Mills’ Axis, and Planet Rhythm. Generally, Ecilo presents a strong, clean, and linear style to his tracks; this “Silent Muse” EP is a continuation of that idea, but the tracks come together as if you’re listening to a cool breeze.
Icy rides in the title track, “Silent Muse,” and the 16th cymbal pushes create an interesting blowing effect. Also, in “Virtual Girl Next Door,” the shakers wander in the mix over the gently high passed atmospheric synths blown and accompanied by a breathy vocal that feels like a cinematic dream cooled with tonal colors, floating beautifully throughout.
Shifting up the gears on the release is “Anomaly Monolith,” which dives a little deeper into tight-fitting technical ideas of groove theory, and call-and-response ideas, but there’s still the chilled shifting atmospheres present that tie the EP together conceptually.
Last up is “After Everything,” which has a very tightly knit rhythm section. While the drum interaction carries the song, the rhythm synth stab modulation is the star of the track as everything else in the track works against it—another example of Ecilo’s expert use of dreamlike synths as tension-building elements.
What’s most striking about Ecilo’s work is the appreciation for techno’s efficiency, but Ecilo also grasps expert-level control of techno music theory while expressing it in a very concise and knowledgeable manner. This is definitely not merely a DJ who feels the need to smash a bunch of premade loops together in a track to get back out on the road… This feels like true musicianship and expression.
There’s no reaching, it’s all effortless, or at least it sounds as such. Also of note here is that if this is Groove Disorder’s only second release in their catalog, after an equally stellar release with Procombo on January 31st, then this label is off to an amazing start. It’s something to definitely get on your radar.
-Sean Ocean
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