A green, amphibian alien encounters Earth and wanders the lonely streets and back-alleys of Vancouver, simultaneously dancing joyfully from its newfound discovery, yet encumbered with a melancholic longing for its extraterrestrial home. Finally, its spaceship arrives to whisk it away to an uncertain destination. Is the flying saucer en route to roots and belonging, or embarking on a new voyage of cosmic exploration?
The astral traveller from Weirdos Inc.’s video for ‘Transient Communications’ could very well serve as an alter-ego of Canadian based artist dj_2button. A long time associate and resident of Noods Radio, music producer and designer Will Hannan has felt the inexorable pull of his native North America away from London and Bristol, the intuitive stir of homesick beckoning akin to “feeling like an alien”, according to a DJ Mag interview. Delivering new Noods label venture Dummy Hand their debut release, Transient Communications expands on dj_2button’s reputation for contemplative ambience and leftfield techno, but smatters disparate flavours and hues which gel and repel in equal measure, reflecting the dual desires of the aforementioned alien choosing between home or the unknown…
The schism of light and dark, of yearning and trepidation, is established immediately on the crunchy EP opener ‘Aurora Arrivals’. Inspired by the otherworldy aurora phenomena that can glitter the Alaskan heavens with pink and green tinctures, Hannan conjures a deeply heady and trippy mix of industrial, resonant grit that pulses and grinds while submerged in a warm vat of Zuckerzeit kosmiche, a psychedelic exploration both pastoral and abrasive. The sonic duplex that entices and threatens in synchronicity hovers into second track ‘Mood Dance’; immersive synth washes over crisp drum loops that point to playful downtempo beats are punctured by menacing basslines which slither and exhale with intriguing disquiet.
As the EP reveals itself and takes shape, the forlorn alien takes the listener by the hand and guides us deeper into its own mused rumination, through the title track’s washed-out vocal garbles and new beat minimalism, ‘Distant UFO Signals’ motorik propulsion and uneasy drones, and the vapour-dub expanse of ‘Space Jam’ all segueing into each other with a satisfying sense of introspective traverse, the final track drifting off in strange elephant trumpets and reverb-soaked atmospherics.
The contrary spirit that tears in the alien’s spirit between dancing and despair has a majestic and cerebral score in dj_2button’s latest offering. Conjuring another slice of stimulating and alternative electronic music, Transient Communications is a celestial trip of forward-thinking, post-punk infused techno which, like the mysterious amphibian’s dual desires, hovers harmoniously between seizing any ice-cool club floor while earnestly looking up and beyond the stars.