Four for the floor

One of the joys of the new vinyl age seems to be that it must have become a more sensible option to start a label. I try to keep up as much as I can, with newsletters, Insta feeds, regular visits on Decks and Juno – but then I find an EP like this and I’m like oh hey Ohm started a new label? Ohm Series? Number three? How did I miss one and two? Damn.

At least on number two I seem to be exonerated as 003 was released already without 002 having hit the stores yet. Looking at all three releases and the artists that are collected on them it seems obvious that Bjarnar Jónsson is a well respected man – Stojche, Federsen and grad_u are among the artists of the first two editions and this third round features four truly talented folks as well.

Fellow Swiss Alessandro Crimi for example, who has been around for one and a half decades, releasing on Waehlscheibe (which he runs as well), Sthlmaudio and Broque, and who has his second release on Etui coming up. True to his deep and mellow style, “Pollux” is a soothing, elegant groover. Plenty of space to let the sun in, elegantly weaving pads – way more than a warm-up.

Benjamin Morales from France – a.k.a. Benales – immediately turns up the heat and the speed with his super straightforward “Vault”. Uncompromising 909 beat structure and classic dub chords is all it takes for a piece that will go really well with some of the more banging grad_u releases.

It’s good to see that Bjarnar Jónsson cares for some lesser known but promising talent as well – in this case Lakefkt from Canada. Reading between the lines of the distributor’s info sheet he might have collaborated with other producers before: this is labeled as his solo debut. “Oceana” serves a pretty dense and dubby, even slightly funky excursion spread out on top of a driving beat structure based on a fuzzy thumping bass. Solid stuff.

Still – hard to compete with the second track on the back side, provided by none other than Matthew Oh whose “Kaltrina” slightly outshines the other three tracks on this EP. Deep with just enough forward energy, expertly placed dub effects, elegant pads and a really good hand at creating and using space and motion – this is probably the track that will let you keep “Ohm Series 3” in your bag for a pretty long time.

So let’s see when number 2 will be released. Judging from the previews on Decks it’s a must-buy – just like this one.

Release for review:
ALESSANDRO CRIMI, BENALES, LAKEFKT, MATTHEW OH – OHM SERIES 3 – OHM003

Buy this vinyl only release on Decks: Click
Or get it on Juno: Click
If sold out, find it on Discogs: Click