Electro might be in the midst of a revival, but Eric Estornel is no fair-weather fan. The man otherwise known as Maceo Plex was making electro as Mariel Ito as far back as 2004, putting out records on labels like Modern Love and Connaisseur Recordings. His label Lone Romantic is even named after one of those earlier tracks. Estornel is looking back at Mariel Ito with an upcoming retrospective for R&S, but before that there's this EP of new material.
"Sintex49" and "Dmode90," right down to their jargon titles, are electro through-and-through, made by someone who knows their way around the genre. "Sintex49" has a sci-fi atmosphere, glitchy robot voices and gleefully broken drum patterns, and with its sighing synths and gurgling bassline "Dmode90" sounds like a track from a pupil of the Convextion and Gerald Donald school. But there's something a little different about Estornel's latest creations, with extra reverb on the drums making these tracks feel more suited to big rooms than most electro.
