Cain – Savan (Fine Grains)

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Cain

Enigmatic Scottish electronic producer Cain first emerged towards the end of 2013 with his debut ‘Mora’ EP for Fine Grains, and a year on this second download-only EP in what’s apparently a trilogy ‘Savan’ offers up five new tracks alongside two remixes. While ‘Mora’s focus fell upon the atmospheres of dark Slavic fairytales, the tracks collected here see him shifting the emphasis towards India and fusing subcontinental vocal and instrumental elements with a flexing dancefloor pulse. ‘Indra’ opens proceedings with a wash of layered female Indian vocal samples before a tight backbone of tumbling polyrhythmic programmed beats locks in beneath against moody synths, the rattling tabla rolls adding a curiously footwork-esque undercurrent to the dark bass swells.

‘Nagan’ meanwhile calls to mind hints of Four Tet as tabla loops circle against female traditional vocal loops, only for a throbbing 4/4 house kickdrum pulse to hijack things halfway against bouncing Switch-esque synths, before title track ‘Savan’ sees orchestral strings and ghostly vocal textures building into a triumphant fanfare against a jittering broken house groove that’s peppered with spidery hi-hats. The remixes on offer here are also suitably impressive, with Slackk taking ‘Andale’ off on a juddering bass-laden tip that sees harsh distorted snares building like a snapping mesh around curiously jaunty synths, before Morgan Zarate turns ‘Nagan’ into a whirling futuristic rush of bleeping dubbed-out synthetics and wiry post-baile funk rhythms that’s easily one of the most thrilling moments here. Well worth seeking out.

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A dastardly man with too much music and too little time on his hands

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