Mikael Stavostrand

Nothing More EP

AmAm

Buy: Juno

When Alessio Mereu founded AMAM last year, the label was mostly a home for his own productions as well as from friends in his Italian vicinity, but as AMAM‘s beats have pulsated throughout Europe and the rest of the globe, it‘s become a home for forward-thinking dance music internationally. Case in point, the latest release from Swedish-born, L.A.-based DJ/producer Mikael Stavostrand, offering three brand new tracks, plus remixes from Berlin-based Argenis Brito (Cadenza) and Agaric (We Are).

Mikael Stavostrand has earned respect over the last decade for his early experimental-leaning work for Force Inc. as well as his club-minded tracks for Mo‘s Ferry and his own label Sunset Diskos. This EP‘s opener „Seam“ finds a middle ground with a laid-back house vibe and spacey, three-dimensional pads coupled with disorienting vocal samples. Agaric‘s version rearranges the elements into upper-fueled realms with much more percussive interplay, a bit hectic but still slick and classy.

On the flip, „Nothing More“ finds Mikael exploring tribal and tropical territory, kind of like an audio collage made from National Geographic clippings. This cut is defintiely perfect for summertime, and also ripe for remixing by Argenis Brito, who strips down the parts to its essentials, offering a more synthetic mood while retaining the energy of the original. Finally, Mikael closes out with another original, „Mackarena“ (exclusive to the digital release), which is a prime slice of dark, gritty and pumping sci-fi techno.