Davorama
Low Enforcement
co:clear
Conna Haraway’s co:clear label is only five releases in, but it’s already carved out a unique sonic identity. If you like your music broody, dubby and with plenty of overcast feels, the label is a buy-on-sight proposition. There’s no shortage of this sort of downtempo electronic music at the moment (shut your eyes and point at the Boomkat website and you’ll undoubtedly find descriptions that include terms like “undulating chords” and “meditative soundscapes”), but co:clear has done a meticulous job of curating up-and-coming artists who can mix the perfect cocktail of field recordings, bassweight and the occasional breakbeat.
The debut from Bordeaux-based Davorama is a case study in what the label does well. Low Enforcement is meandering and melancholy, but little details pull the tracks out of the murk and into the club. The slowed snare claps and the guitar-like chords on “Store Wars” coalesce into something that sounds like an Explosions in the Sky song on an Artificial Intelligence compilation. The dense layers of reverb on the drums on “Beaming” conjure thoughts of a dub techno tune that’s been pitched down to -8, and on the record’s title track, Davorama layers contrasting, broken breaks that always seem to be on the verge of locking into a jungle groove. These are deeply contemplative tunes that still have enough bite to keep an open-minded dancefloor grooving.
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