Berlin-via-San Fran producer, DJ, and Decibel Festival alumni Avalon Emerson is among the more unique faces in underground DJing and production, with a wide and well-traveled taste in electronic music of all shapes and sizes. Her DJ mixes, despite being very dance floor-worthy, tend to have a certain opaque, abstract nature to them, with spun tracks ranging from the darker sounds in dub to heavy-hitters in house, to cold, mind-massaging minimal techno, and everything in between. Her original material, meanwhile, showcases her multitudinous electronic music influences, albeit staying pretty well within the realms of techno and house music, with mid-paced four-to-the-floor rhythms and murky synthesizers.
Emerson’s latest release of original material – a four-song EP, her debut for German label Shtum Records – is music perfectly suited for a dark, covert dance party. The sounds on this album are mechanical, they’re bleak, and the songs on here are built on melodic and rhythmic repetition, with minimal progressions throughout. The songs on this EP see Emerson expanding her influences as well. The first track on here feels a bit Factory Floor-ish with its strange, deadpan vocals and outlandish minimal dance beat, while the closer, “Hurdy Gurdy DJ Took” is a 7-minute old-fashioned firecracker of a dance track, with heavy breakbeats and a strong sense of groove throughout.
Stream the new EP via Avalon Emerson’s SoundCloud below. Let us know what you thought of it, and if you were at her Decibel Festival DJ set last year, let us know what you thought of that too.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
