Gate / Masterplan Kölsch / Kevin de Vries

For the latest release on Ipso, Kölsch has teamed up with Berlin-based Kevin De Vries, a producer whose star is in the ascendant, for one of the wildest releases on the label yet. De Vries’s music has previously been released on labels such as Cocoon, Drumcode and Afterlife, where his tranced-out techno productions stand out for their stealth and gracefulness. He’s also an in-demand DJ who’s held down residencies in clubs like Poland’s TAMA. But if it makes perfect sense that De Vries and Kölsch would eventually work together, the result is startling, unexpected, but full of pleasure, with textures so tactile, it’s a sensualist’s delight.

Both “Gate” and “Masterplan” work, thrillingly, as dancefloor mini epics, but there’s so much more to these two tracks. “Gate” plays tricks with time – starting out with a streamlined thud, its tickling arpeggios and glassy and gaseous synths spiral into beatless passages where everything accelerates, dizzyingly – a truly psychedelic experience. “Masterplan” is spooked and eerie, its minor-key patterns rippling across its glistening surfaces, while haunted choirs sing out wordless chants as a four-note melody turns and mutates. A shuddering bass line prowls the guts of the track as everything melds together, a surreal, ghostly encounter.