Matador - Velvet Revolver EP

Titanic techno talent Matador is back with another sizzling EP on his RUKUS imprint. Still riding high off the success of his hard hitting album, Ructions, the Irish producer once again leads from the front with five fantastically fresh tracks.

Matador is Gavin Lynch, and few people have made the sort of impact that he has in recent times. The producer has pretty much been on a nonstop jaunt around the planet’s finest clubs and festivals ever since signing to the influential Minus. What’s more, he also managed to enlist some high profile vocal work from no other than Felix Da Housecat. And with his hotly anticipated remix of Oxia “Domino” on the way, his name is quickly becoming synonymous with the dance music elite.

His illustrious talent and fervent focus on the quality of his sets have solidified Matador’s title as one of the best live DJ’s of his generation. This reputation has lead him to confirm six Ultra dates spanning across Singapore, Bali, Japan, Paraguay, Peru and Brazil that took place in September and October. His inexorable rise has been picked up by many, with Beatport naming Matador artist of the week from Sept 5th, as well as becoming one of PLAYdifferently’s live ambassador’s for the MODEL 1 mixer.

The arresting opener of his new five­track EP, Velvet Revolver, is seven minutes of brooding techno that casts a spell on you with its drilling bass, soulful synth patterns, and rolling grooves. The Vicar is a more tripped out cut with a paranoid lead synth circling round you and trapping you right on the spot as you march along to the rubbery kick drums. Space Charmer then shows Matador has a real grasp of the intergalactic atmosphere as he subtly layers sci-­fi sounds and frictionless grooves into hypnotic soundtracks. The fantastic Clowns then gets a little eerie and spooky with its wide­open sense of space and vocal mutterings, then last but not least, Bells & Whistles brings some colour to the table with, yep, harmonic bells, and whistles rippling around up top. Slithering bass works on your body down low and helps suck you into this essential techno cut.

Once again here Matador shows he has a breadth and depth of understanding when it comes to offering the most interesting and original techno tunes around.