Johannes Debese A.K.A ‘Johnny D’ is back with a scorcher of an EP released on 8bit label. After a quite lengthy absence, since his ‘Disco Invaders - Cocoon Ibiza Summer Mix’ and his Oslo records days, the minimal freak from Eritrea is back with a bang.
His new EP ‘Requiem Of A Dream’ boasts two wonderful tracks. The first track, ‘Requiem of a Dream’, is a musical masterpiece in its own right. The track kicks off with a low frequency kick and a low violin sound building up from the background. Then some african tribal voices start to kick in adding a wonderful touch to this already tribal percussion inspired minimal track. Around the 2 minute mark, a wonderfully worked bassline enters and mixes extremely well with the hi-hat elements of the track. The track keeps the same progressive momentum for a while before an even more orchestral violin sound kicks in, while keeping the same elements of track all throughout. The track builds energy till around the 5.30 minute mark, as Johnny D starts the process of slowly taking some of the energy of track away, but he does it in an unpreciptable manner. 8 minutes of total minimal pleasure!
The second track, ‘Scope of mind’, kicks off on a relatively higher bassline note, but the end product is very similar. A track that defines everthing minimal, unlike alot of the so called ‘minimal’ tracks out in the market these days. ‘Scope of Mind’ appears to be Johnny D’s refutation to the degradation engulfing the minimal techno scene these days, and he does it in a typical techno fashion throughout this EP!
A harmonious mixture of precussion, orchestral sounds, wonderful synth work and great basslines is the best way to describe this wonder EP. And with the likes of Nick Curly, Ricardo Villalobos and Loco Dice to name but a few already supporting this EP, it seems like we will be hearing the name Johnny D much more often in weeks to come!
Tracklisting:
a1 - Requiem of a Dream 08:11
b2 - Scope of Mind 06:42