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Rotterdam techno label Mord has carried forth its legacy as a platform for deserving talent with a sonically eclectic EP by Hiroaki Iizuka. The Japanese producer has offered up eight inventive tracks for the Reflect EP, which arrived in full on December 28th.
Songs like “Cycle,” “Eucharythm” and “80017A” are driven by tastefully discordant melodies, with noise and glitch effects artfully incorporated into each arrangement. The title track, “Strum” and “Rise & Fall” showcase Iizuka’s expert sense of polyrhythms, with “Constant Wave” falling on the harder end of the spectrum. “Vapor” closes out the EP with serene ambient – a departure from the rest of the effort, but familiar territory for Iizuka nonetheless.
The Enigmatic Hiroaki Iizuka
Despite boasting a career in electronic music that extends back at least as far as the inclusion of “Tera” on Tresor Records‘ Demo Tracks #01 in 1999, Hiroaki Iizuka maintains a notably low profile. No pictures of him can be found on his social media pages – which he uses to share music with scarce commentary.
Over the course of his career, Iizuka’s music has landed on labels such as Coda Records, Kazumi, THEM and Monocode. Although perhaps best known for his eclectic style of techno, he also produces ambient and IDM-leaning compositions, often using modular synth setups.
The Reflect EP is available in 12-inch vinyl and digital formats via Mord Bandcamp.
