Nuron, As One – La Source

absolute beauty of a techno EP - return to it time and again, beautiful production, beautifully pressed

Nuron has returned with his first EP of new music in nearly 25 years. Nurmad Jusat aka Nuron aka Fugue may not be a recognizeable name for many but to hardcore diggers and techno historians of classic UK techno, there isnt many who have been so revered with such a small output. Likemind Records was his home for his first productions. A mid 1990s label that he started and was short lived but well received. Only four legendary releases in a years time but each one featured music from Nurmad. The quality of those four releases are well documented and appreciated by the collectors who have them. All selling for absurd amounts of money per copy depending on the condition. Nuron is now back with a brand new EP but for another label also making a strong history in its own right. De:tuned records brings us this release that features one new Nuron track and two from fellow Likemind alum As One (Kirk Degiorgio), that are then reinterpreted by Nuron. Both of those tracks are taken from As One's fantastic and newest full album 'Communion', also on De:tuned. Which btw, is just coming off their fantastic 10 part edition that helped collect some of the best names in 1990s techno and IDM. A fitting place for both of these artists' latest.

Music:
'La Source' immediately moves you with some amazing tones and emotion. Its broken beat and inspired sounds are wonderfully catchy and gentle. The keys and main riff move nicely together at an easy pace and is the perfect summer soundtrack ballad. Small changes happen. Drums are added, the melody goes out and comes back but it just all supports the smooth overall ride and vibe. A soothing and melodic winner no doubt.

'As One - The Specialist (Nuron Remix)'
The b-side starts with classic idm type sounds from the heyday of UK. I almost immediately think 'On' by AFX with this whimsicle playful melody in the first few notes. The bassline is quite deep and pronounced while the highs make way for keyboard to swell in and capture the listeners attention. Similar to the first track, this one also stays in the sweet spot accentuating whats in place from the beginning. The bass notes are really the hook for me in the track with keeping the melody from drifiting off balance. Nuron favors more linear patterns then making too many up and down changes during these tracks. Smooth and gentle are two adjectives that keep coming to mind as I listen. Another solid track there.

As One - Emanation (Nuron Remix)
Lastly we have 'Emanation' which has the most traditional song like structure to it. The chord progression is more predictable which allows you to really hone in on what is unique about the track. For me, the absence of a complete drum fill fools you into thinking its a simple downtempo track. The balance of what sounds so rudimentary is also deep listening. As the song moves each melody is a bit more pronounced and poignant. Each section adding more personality and feeling than the next. My favorite song on this EP.

Synopsis:
Its great to see Nuron back making music. The bonus of him remixing As One tracks really brings the legacy of those Likemind releases full circle. The release of this EP caught a lot of people off guard including myself. De:tuned did a good job keeping this one quiet. And expectations are high for this release considering what came before. What Nuron did give us here was some very good music. Honest music with good emotion than comes through the EP well. Normally people think IDM can be a difficult listen and this has a bit of IDM framework but its much more mature leaning more towards a John Beltran sound if you will. Everything is in good balance on the mixes and they do get better and more recognizeable with each listen. However, I do wish there was a track to blow me away and be that stamp of approval but perhaps the genius is the understated approach that gets better with age. But only time will tell that. We all hope this is the restart to having more new music from Nurmad Jusat

Review by Tim Humphrey aka TIM aka errorsinspace

Rating: 81/100

This is an incredibly beautiful record. Those chords on the Emanation remix pull on my heart strings. Thank you Nuron for coming back after all this time and gracing us with this gift!

Nuron still got it ! Beautiful track and great remixes . Hopefully we'll hear more from this genius in a near future . BIG thx to De:tuned .... you know what's right .

Not as good as his first releases on Likemind which remain totally mind-blowing and of the highest level compared to these new tracks. Nice racing circuit diagram-themed artwork in reference to one of Nuron's passions.

Once again loving the motor racing shout outs from Nuron. La Source is a corner on the Belgium circuit Spa-Francorchamps. I read a rumour that he used to be a racing driver so would make sense.

This is a monumental comeback for Nuron in my book! Even just hearing the samples, as I do not own the record 'just' yet but anything this guy puts out (which has been a 24 year wait) is golden & it's a 'buy on sight' mentality for me. As the previous reviewer said: Welcome back Nuron we sure missed you man!!!