1. All That Glitters Ain`t Gold

Vakant is continuing its VALT series with Nico Purman after Dario Zenker’s excursion into Detroit techno some months ago.

Nico, who just moved to Berlin recently, drops a dirty disco bomb which is our soundtrack to your spring! Enjoy.

1. what what
2. funk forest
3. chamomile

Nico Purman, our Argentinean (soon to be Berlin based) drumline captain and all around groove slinger is back for his third instalment on the marching band in the sky that we call our Vakant home.

Purman’s sound continues to evolve, covering truly large distances with every release. Since his robo-strobe inspired earlier Vakant works Tuesday EP (VA017) and Euphrasia EP (VA025), Nico drops 3 large-and-very-much-in-charge space jazz masterpieces that he fermented in what sounds like a mid-nineties New York house basement.

First up is ‘Why What’ where Nico sets the free-flowing rhapsodic mood that covers so much ground with one track. Starting in what sounds like Tenaglia’s beloved Chelsea, the track slowly moves uptown landing at the Blue Note where Rollins, Monk, and Roach sit in on the session.

‘Funk Forest’ follows with more pep and less mood. Upbeat and popping percussion blend with Rhodes while a diva whispers in your ear until late seventies Hancock shows up with his synth and brings the hands way up.

‘Chamomile’ finishes the EP off in style. Moody while maintaining the jazz feel, “Chamomile” peaks with futuro baritone sax and piano in unison. Smooth and steady all the way.

1. Euphrasia
2. My Own Band
3. Da Roots

Who said techno isn’t seasonal? Summer’s ebullience must invariably lead to winter’s depravity. Short days, collapsing economies, and assorted mavericks have set the mood for the return of Argentinean Nico Purman, our winter cycle heavy hitter, with his second EP on Vakant since last January’s Tuesday EP (VA 017).

A-side ‘Euphrasia’ is your very own space tourism trip minus the Soyuz-FG rocket and associated $25 million price tag. Are we going to make it to the International Space Station? Will we break up in the upper atmosphere? Will there be a FSB agent waiting for us in the ISS? All good questions. Nico’s got the ascension covered here, complete with drama, apprehension, and aerospace wizardry.

B1 ‘My Own Band’ provides reassured relief after finally docking with the Pirs module only to find a bunch of inebriated astronauts complete with hydroponics and atomizers. Space is indeed fun and full of love and melody.

With B2 ‘Da Roots’, Nico proves once and for all that there are indeed Africans in space, and they probably spent a considerable amount of time in Chicago. ‘Da Roots’ jacks as robustly as a solid Kazakh Steppe landing. Plump and stout, Nico’s B2 celebrates earth and space at once with feet firmly on the ground staring back up yearning for the next ride.

1. Tuesday
2. Muela Pain

Fresh talent has joined the Vakant Berlin Boys Tec Team (VBBTT). Argentinean Nico Purman, drummer and no stranger to the world’s dark throbbing dance floor scene, brings us a release nothing short of spontaneous combustion.

A-side ´Tuesday´ takes perhaps the most direct approach to dark loud strobo room stimulation seen in some time from the perspective of deep expanding techno. Taking classic clues from no frills techno history, Nico takes things way further with a sound all his own, vast and bottomless. At once thick and enveloping, ´Tuesday´ ferries you on an outing to a submarine rave whether you remember getting on the boat or not.

B-side ´Muela Pain´, also not for those faint of heart or easily unhinged, could be easily placed in some of Kubrik’s darker cinematic moments. ´Muela Pain´ foreshadows impending doom in a way that a wall of speakers could ever hope to. It is at once dubby, clinical, heavy, and just plain freaky.

Just in time for the cold, dark indoor season, VA017 is here to happily assist in your winter downward spiral.