{"title":"Ekoplekz","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEkoplekz is an acclaimed electronic artist known for his unique blend of experimental and ambient music. With a discography spanning over a decade, he has established himself as a leading figure in the underground music scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInfluenced by artists such as *Mordant Music*, *Pye Corner Audio*, and *Demdike Stare*, Ekoplekz's sound is characterized by its atmospheric textures, intricate rhythms, and haunting melodies. His compositions often evoke a sense of otherworldliness, transporting listeners to ethereal sonic landscapes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith releases on renowned labels like *Planet Mu* and *Editions Mego*, Ekoplekz has garnered critical acclaim for his innovative approach to sound design. Drawing inspiration from various genres including dub, techno, and industrial, he seamlessly fuses these elements together to create immersive sonic experiences.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"unfidelity","title":"Unfidelity","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn this, his debut album for Planet Mu - with Mike Paradinas working alongside Nick to pick the fruits of his labour - Nick Edwards' Ekoplekz project creates an album that feels just right for Mu. Ekoplekz has previously released on a number of labels, but with Unfidelity the music aligns itself with Mu's melodic sensibilities and lets the early 90's electronica influences bleed in, although the album still has the intensely transporting feel that all his work possesses. The title track is the big giveaway to Nick's music if you've not heard it before. A hands on approach to music making, 4-track recordings, un-sequenced and murky with a molasses-thick harmonic drone that needs to come with a 'do not listen to whilst driving heavy machinery' warning, leaving you with a mood flashback to the fuggy feeling of a teenage bong intake.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Planet Mu","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50491476050251,"sku":"372365","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9db9d88a-14fe-4b6c-b409-1178e24301db_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727686876"},{"product_id":"reflekzionz","title":"Reflekzionz","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhilst the murky four-track cassette sound and dirty analogue textures are still very much in place, keen ears might spot a subtle change in emphasis. There are less of the radiophonic sci-fi sounds, ancient drum machines and none of the post-punk bass or guitar. Instead, Nick Edwards mainly focuses on invoking a blurry, saturated false-memory of the leftfield electronica that was the soundtrack to his life in the early to mid-1990s.As the album title suggests, \"Reflekzionz\" is a record that unapologetically dwells on past experiences, like flicking through an old album of bleached-out photos from days gone by, and on tracks like \"Downtone\", with its extended, unchanging groove and wash of muted, untethered synth melody, the aim is to invite the listener to join in a state of reverie. \"Midnight Cliffs\" and \"Saturation (Full Rinse)\" are unabashed homages to the artists who inspired Edwards, but always with enough production twists and turns to ensure the results are never simply a facsimile of the originals. Opening track \"A Caustic Romance\" could almost be a lost AFX beat but adds a touch of hand-played naive melody that brings to mind mid-seventies Cluster, blending different eras in a lo-fi melting pot.Elsewhere there are other influences on display. \"Quakers Road Skank\" sounds like Raymond Scott jamming with Lee Perry at the Black Ark \"Repeater (How Did It Feel?)\" tips its hat to the work of indie-psych gods Spacemen 3, whilst \"Seduktion\" adds a touch of Kraftwerk-like metallic sheen.  But as with practically all Ekoplekz records, the unifying factor is the primitive dubwise production, heavy on the filtering, echo and equalisation, never more apparent than on \"Dubnium 268\" where heavy layers of drone and melody crash and burn along an unstable rhythmic path.  The album closes with the gentle, woozy atmosphere of \"Day In May\", where fragile, muted melodies drift in and out of sync on a bed of corroded drum machine, fading into the distance like a half-remembered dream - the perfect finish to an hour spent in the company of Nick Edwards at his most 'reflective'.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Planet Mu","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50493132046667,"sku":"388479","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50493131030859,"sku":"388480","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/4e12d9b2-da85-43c3-a1c4-42163b2c5c48_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727695681"},{"product_id":"entropik-ep","title":"Entropik EP","description":"\u003cp\u003eFeaturing just two tracks, The 'Entropik EP' sees Ekoplekz stretching his sound towards breaking point, each track extending well past the ten minute mark, slowly evolving yet with a sustained intensity, strength of purpose and emotional impact that ensures that neither outstays their welcome. 'Entropy Flash' is a pile-driving epic - the relentless, heavily filtered analogue rhythms and skull-splitting drones offset by delicate, wistful melodies and a warm, extemporized bassline. It's title might make reference to a classic techno track by Beltram, but there the similarity ends. This is no homage, the sound is pure Ekoplekz, and the onus is on the listener to gauge what statement, if any, is being made here. Fans of a certain late-eighties psychedelic drone-rock group might spot another reference in the title of the flipside, 'Entropy Symphony', though as with the A-side, all sense of 'Ecstasy' has long since evaporated. Beginning with a volley of pensive, densely entwined melodic loops, the track is gradually submerged in layers of searing drone-noise. Though further propelled by the introduction of a one-note bass hit, ultimately the 'symphony' disintegrates into a grey void of instability. Whether or not the listener chooses to interpret this EP in a conceptual sense, there is no doubt that this is some of the most powerful, life-affirming music to emanate from Ekoplekz' lo-fi studio hideaway to date\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Planet Mu","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50493160161611,"sku":"385501","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0ccb1031-5588-479a-b96a-458cd3bdfbfb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727695872"},{"product_id":"bioproduct","title":"Bioproduct","description":"\u003cp\u003eEkoplekz returns with his fourth album for Planet Mu, in the shape of 10-tracker \u003ci\u003eBioprodukt\u003c\/i\u003e. The unique lo-fi, woozy sound of Bristol's Nick Edwards stays intact while he veers towards the nineties for inspiration: the bleep and bass sound of the north of England is one touchpoint and the acid gurgles of the 303 are another. While the murky lo-fi production levels and evocative melodies remain, they are now bolstered by a more muscular rhythmic chassis. Snappier kicks and snares mingle with dense layers of percussion and deep undulating sub-basslines adding a funkier edge, as typified by opening track \"Elevation\" where playful beats interlock with breezyeyboard flourishes to create something uncharacteristically upbeat. Similarly, the gentle, fluid motion of \u003ci\u003eSlipstream\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCalypzoid\u003c\/i\u003e represent some of the most appealingly chilled grooves in the Ekoplekz canon to date. But the darker-edged material remains. \u003ci\u003eExpedition\u003c\/i\u003e has a pensive, percussion-heavy feel whilst \u003ci\u003eAcrid Acid\u003c\/i\u003e is a dirt-encrusted slow-mo techno meltdown. \u003ci\u003eTranscience\u003c\/i\u003e displays the Ekoplekz trademark dub-fx in full flight over a driving lo-end, before \"Descent\" leads down to the final section, where the beats fade out, replaced by rippling layers of spectral ferric ambience on the epic \u003ci\u003eLow-X Over,\u003c\/i\u003e before finishing with the radiant looped stasis of \u003ci\u003eDenier Daze.\u003c\/i\u003e The albums shifting, imperfect patterns and muted colours are visually mirrored in the beautifully realised sleeve by the Print Project. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Planet Mu","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50495958942027,"sku":"1012090","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/7c72b908-4f27-494d-8f0c-9e7f0fdf3dba_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727716020"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_575eeeb8_thumbnail_4096_d3fca70a-66b9-4528-82e8-fe8d501cfd88.jpg?v=1727686857","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/ekoplekz.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}