Rising Parisian producer Yakine's career pretty much defines the word "eclectic"--in his teens, he was a bona fide metalhead, playing guitar in a metal band that toured all over Europe, before his love of hip hop steered him in the direction of the dancefloor. He really found his home behind the decks, however, and once he discovered the world of electronic music via the patronage of his brother--who introduced him to the sounds of underground deep house and techno--Yakine quickly moved into production. He's since released a series of EPs on European labels like Esperanza and Jetaime Records.
The Rise EP is his first release for Spectral Sound, a four-track slab of understated, atmospheric tech-house. The title track features a guest vocal from Canadian DJ/producer James Teej, who intones a series of faintly sinister demands--"Are you going to rise to the occasion? Are you going to dismay your friends? Are you going to enjoy the situation?"--over a backdrop of pulsing bass and stabbing synths. "For Motion" picks up both the tempo and the energy, while "Disaster Drop" and "Except" both have a distinctly dubby feel, all spacious reverb and vocal samples that drift in and out of the mix like snatches of half-remembered dreams. The uniting theme is a brooding, cerebral sound that's equally comfortable on the headphones as it is on the dancefloor.
