maukook vs dokter doggo — For Those Who Know
Written on 10 April 2022 by Jack Hunter
For Those Who Know is the latest project to come out of the enigmatic DJ PlayStation label play labs, featuring six slices of unabridged electro and techno and distinctive acid-trance underpinnings.
Nostalgia is very much a leaned-into concept. It’s manifested, mutilated and even matured over the past decade or so. Despite its memetic infancy, we have seen the aesthetics of nostalgia, both visually and sonically, become more realised and fleshed-out over recent years. One could attribute such developments to the infamous and (in foresight, somewhat unlikely) influential vaporwave genre, that took plunderphonics into a different direction – applying distinct visual and sonic aesthetics and an anti-capitalist/corporatism manifesto. What does this have to do with this release, exactly? Well, on praise, that an microgenre could show a vast amount of brevity, sending a shockwave of influence to all genres and artistic movements (or, at least, a very vast spectrum of underground music and art). This was something that had been previously unseen in internet micro-culture, and would pave the way for similar genres to follow suite.
In lieu of this, I would like to draw attention how the level of detail and artistic development such aforementioned genres have started to really capture its own essence – no longer just a copy, of a copy, of a copy. As such, we see a strong example of this with FTWK and play labs, with distinction, progression, and a sonic palette entwined with familiar, albeit original visual aesthetics (reminiscent of the original PlayStation’s CD player visualisations).
The opener ‘xπ‘ encapsulates a dubby techno orientation over a subtle polyrhythmic percussion winding modestly away in the background, with lusciously mixed down kicks that fully accentuate a lucidly driving punctuation. It does not fail in progressing its melodic pads throughout, before returning to reprise – clockwork in motion. ‘4r3 y0u r34dy f0r d0660?‘ is vengeful in its rebuttal; retaliating in similar dub sensibilities, sobering kicks, lysergic acid arps and full-bodied breakbeats. My personal favourite comes in the shape of under pressure, which constantly descends. An off-kilter leftfield techno slammer that is subdued but ultimately sensual. It is a tool that will definitely transcend hearts, minds and souls to dimensions of the mind previously uninhabited.
The aptly named ‘d0660 d035n7 d0 4c1d‘ is reminiscent to worships of acidic, psychedelic, trance-like underpinnings. It bodes well to create mindfully expressions that go beyond the obvious trappings of the genres it can relate itself toward – curating a perfect fusion of trance and techno in ways not so immediately obvious. ‘zero one two‘ is the most straight-forward of the tracks presented here, however that’s not to say that it lacks distinction nor quality. It constructs itself within the aesthetic boundaries that have been previously established, but executed in a near seven-minute meditation of pure techno bliss – one for the peak time selector.
We lastly become acquainted with the tripped-out mind-altering wind-down known as ‘h07 d0660‘. A wind-down in relative terms, however – this track easily mesmerises and disassociates all those who come into contact with its extra-terrestrial sonics. It’s a brilliant mosaic of synths and anchored kicks, combined with an ethereally vocal line that complement the aforementioned gracefully. If you ever wanted to know how to round out a progressive release, this is it.
Conclusively, it is a landmark release that, in a post-modern realm of electronic music, thrives within its own psychedelic bubble… essential underground frequencies.