A Sagittariun – Interzone [Cragie Knowes]

The latest release from Cragie Knowes comes from A Sagittariun – a prolific producer who you may know from many releases on his own label Elastic Dreams, or a myriad of other imprints, from Secretsundaze & Idle Hands to Futureboogie – A Sagittariun now makes his debut on Cragie Knowes with a three-track EP dedicated to the late Andrew Weatherall.

Having dabbled in every shade of house, techno, electro and everything in between over the last decade, A Sagittariun is a producer as diverse as he is prolific. This EP is no exception to this diversity in sound, with three tracks spanning 20 minutes offering plenty of flavour of all sorts. Having said this, the first two tracks are much more in line with what we have come to love and expect from Cragie Knowes: hard-hitting, futuristic, break-tinged electro. The title track, some four on the floor electro with plenty of bleeps, bloops and acidic synths is a great tune. B1 “The Soft Machine” is the toughest track on the EP, deep, dark & brooding quality that feels right at home in the Cragie Knowes discography. Yet the third track, and our premiere of the day, is the obvious standout for us.

The backbone and stable momentum is established from the first second, an open hi-hat hits with the first second of the track and ends on the last beat, never changing apart form a covert shift in pitch every now and then. Upon these pillars, A Sagittariun builds a long, evolving journey. Deep chords set an ambient tone, while funky stabs feed the dancers with a burst of energy and blissed out synth lines emerge and dissapear throughout. With what will surely make for a beautiful moment once the world is ready to party once again, A Sagittariun gives us a track would surely make Weatherall proud.

Highly recommended, pre-order here.

Alex