PREMIERE: Nicolas Bougaïeff – Primal Express

Nicolas Bougaïeff announces a stellar new techno series on NovaMute with ‘EP1’.

Berlin Academy of Electronic Music founder Nicolas Bougaïeff is not only a DJ who has played institutions such as fabric and Berghain, and a producer who has regularly released on Mute and NovaMute, but also someone involved in music technology. He designed the controllers for Richie Hawtin’s Plastikman Live tour, and in 2010 with Hawtin, he co-founded Liine, the company behind the landmark music app Lemur. Now, the Berlin-based Canadian Bougaïeff drops another artfully crafted and hugely potent techno EP with ‘EP1’, setting the tone for the stellar releases that will follow.

First up in Nicolas Bougaïeff’s ‘EP1’ is ‘Primal Express’, in which he returns to NovaMute for their next wave of releases with layers of elastic synth lines and rolling drum funk. It’s the first instalment in a three-part series on the Mute offshoot and is a dark but enticing work of heady minimalism featuring enchanting synths darting like cosmic rays into otherworldly dimensions. The psychedelic ‘Obviate Thought’ then boasts tight and punchy drums overlaid with haunting sounds that pan throughout the mix in tripped-out fashion. Last of all is ‘Concrete Love’, a gritty and glitchy techno pumper with mind-melting loops and scratchy synth textures peeling off its percussion as the whole track powers on unrelentingly.

‘Concrete Love’ and ‘Obviate Thought’ were published last year. Now, as a third and last single, we are presenting the opening track ‘Primal Express’.

‘EP1’ is available HERE.