Demian – Milestars EP [Kompakt]

DJ, musician, former saxophonist – there’s a combination of skills you don’t get to see too often. Get acquainted with DEMIAN, then, aka Damien Pontonnier, a French artist who relocated to Paris after an influential career as electronic music pioneer and party organizer in Northern Spain. Now an accomplished producer with releases on labels such as Correspondant or Clouded Vision, he presents the MILESTARS EP for Kompakt – a quirky and vibrant track trio with an obvious knack for catchy melodic details in a kinetic techno corsage.

Having amassed quite the experience portfolio when it comes to grassroots club culture, DEMIAN knows a thing or two about inspiring a dance floor – but that doesn’t necessarily account for the artistic versatility or genuine lust for sonic adventures and happy accidents that these cuts exhibit: opener DÉCLICA boots with deliciously stoic cowbell-isms that leave the doors of perception wide open for some iconoclastic, yet surprisingly effective synth action.

Meanwhile, the title cut Milestars invests in texture-rich atmosphere without forgetting about the precise amount of momentum you need to tip the floor over the edge. Closer NO HYPE FOR THE FISH takes things in a more hypnotic direction, intertwining freeform arpeggios and tape delay with smart beatmanship. Simultaneously lush and lean in its overall aesthetic, the MILESTARS EP will feed both the nerd and the dancer in you – a swiss army knife with all the right tools for masterful crowd control.