Pixelord

Supaplex EP Pixelord

Civil Music's latest transmission comes in the form of four advanced dancefloor cuts from Moscow's Alexey Devyanin under his Pixelord moniker. Having a rich history in electronic music, with beats released under a number of different aliases (including a rich vein as Gultskra Artikler), Devyanin's latest incarnation as Pixelord has seen the producer traverse a wealth of influences, from the experimental field recordings of Fennesz, to the heavy-hitting rhythms of a new Russian beats scene and beyond. With the Supaplex EP we see Pixelord taking the reins of an exciting new chapter for his country's club music, leading the way through Russian juke, emotive digitalism and half-stepping bass works. Opening with the unmistakably Chi-Town indebted beat patterns of 'Been Lookin', the EP outlays the 2012 Pixelord dynamic; heavy trippin' juke rhythms, pitched down ghost MC's duetting with their angelic female counterparts, and sky high synths that sear their way across the heart. 'Freeze The Star' takes this template and twists it into a deeply layered ode to trap architects like DJ Toomp, Beat Billionaire and Burn One, part low swung call-to-arms, part melancholy reflection. Complete with Q-Tip's heavily treated vocal sample and looped r'n'b couplets, the tracks multitude of components oscillate around each other, dipping and weaving throughout the waveform to create something equal parts solid and elegant. 'Paperball' follows, acting as a frenetically percussive demonstration of this artist's programming chops - all tempered hand claps and rolling 303 drums - before finally 'Vibrate' rounds things off with perhaps a more recognizable UK lean. Gloopy, rumbling melodies scale their way across galvanized percussion, as stuttered MDMA-dipped synth work creating the perfect foil for the tracks second drop, which sees polyrhythmic UK funky-isms played out against a backdrop of broken halfstep beats. Alongside developing acts like 813, DZA, Lapti, OL and Vtgnike, Pixelord is spea