Stump Valley
森林

Following up after the mental drop by Detroit’s Master of Repetition, Population One, we have a new signing hailing from the Land of the Rising Sun, helping us to set the standards for this new imprint—uncompromised techno funk! Japanese producer Imugem Orihasam has spent the past 3 years slowly evolving. His early work on Ilian Tape and Esperanza sounds like that of an already seasoned craftsman digesting Detroit bit by bit, with a focus on lush textures and swooning eerie melodies. This past year has seen a spike in activity for Imugem, with releases on Patrice Scott’s Sistrum Recordings, Berlin’s Nsyde, and Adam Marshall’s New Kanada—all showcasing a more focused and exuberant approach that has sharpened his reflective compositions. With GEM, Imugem steps away from the supple melodies and tranquil atmospheres for a trip deep into the power plant. Working far from his comfort zone, he has fired off five tracks of puristic, hypnotic techno. We don’t mean template-driven chunky white label Discogs bait either, but something fashioned out of raw sound that places the channeling of energy above composition and cleverness.