Electronic producer Monophonic Underground stirs across new EP Stuff, an inventive sonic collage built around old drum machines, analogue synths, and meticulously transformed vocal takes sourced from 1950s–70s stock footage. Recorded across atmospheric hotels in northern England, the EP embraces an uncanny nostalgia, with experimental processing and resampling turning voices from the past into new characters.
EP opener “Transmutation” evolves with steady yet memorable energy, moving from a subdued spacey electronic intrigue to glimmering, twinkling analogue synths and dynamic rhythms, expanding from danceable clarity to a midpoint evolution. That shift embraces a more industrial, murkier realm, where fuzzy percussive tones and frequency-like electronics converge wonderfully. This fantastic opener then gives way to “Note for Dr Benway,” which, following a brief, clinical spoken sample, also launches into an otherworldly electronic mystique. The reference to a “dream state” feels echoed in that initially serene demeanor, before expanding to a more delectably nightmare-ish journey into blaring synth work and pitter-pattering percussion.
Elsewhere, “Deepend” moves from an engaging sample, resembling police radio chatter, to an effervescent array of memorable synth work and bouncy rhythmic playfulness. A trickling, unsettling tone melds with sounds of breathing for an especially resonant conclusion. Meanwhile, “Nosferatu3.5” traverses from illuminated, sonorous qualities to more murmured mystery and second-half electro-rhythm click-clacking, while EP finale “We are the Stars” delights in its thumping feeling of momentum, fusing bass-y infectiousness with artful electronics and rhythmic vocal chops. Full of electronic and sample-laden ingenuity, Stuff is a riveting EP from Monophonic Underground.
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“Transmutation” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
