Review: Fumiya Tanaka – AB EP

Perlon releases are a big enough deal on their own these days, but a Perlon release from Fumiya Tanaka? Now that’s some hype.

It’s easy to forget that the minimal maestro’s much lauded album came out on Perlon only two years ago, but he’s back with his first EP on the label since 2013.

You’ve probably heard Zip dropping A side ‘On A Bass’ in his sets over the past few months. Tanaka has never dressed his music up as something it’s not, most of it is meant for the dancefloor of a club and On A Bass is no exception. The bassline can only be described as a ‘chugger’ but the array of percussion give this track and insurmountable of groove, in particular, eery sounding chords and the lightning quick snares.

While On A Bass is surely meant for the dancefloor, B side ‘Dreaming Perfect Zebras’ appears to resonate with a deeper, more emotive part of the brain. The track seems like it could be easily made for a horror movie soundtrack. The bassline creeps throughout the track whilst the distorted vocals create a spine tingle that you won’t soon forget. Midway through the track, an appealing pattern of drums and pads do give this track a decent deal of groove, but this one is more for home listening.

You can find Fumiya Tanaka’s AB EP on Juno, Deejay or any good record shop.