Audio By Carbonatix
Ds and Cs
Placing Ourselves Elsewhere
(Black Nation Records)
Miami isn’t particularly known for its techno. But certain locals have been trying to change that perception in recent years. One of them is Nelson Fernandez (AKA DJ Nova), a mainstay of the burgeoning SoFla scene.
With Pornograph Events, Fernandez spent most of the late 2000s booking heavyweights like Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and John Acquaviva while establishing himself as one of the foremost local exponents of brainy, minimal sounds.
More recently, Fernandez hooked up with Los Angeles-based producer Luis Rosario, adopting the Ds and Cs moniker and dropping a series of promising releases on Detroit’s Black Nation Records.
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If there’s such a thing as Miamian techno, then the sound of Ds and Cs’ debut long-player Placing Ourselves Elsewhere is most definitely it. Track titles like “El Curandero Cubano,” “Ricky Ricardo,” and “Moon Over Miami” certainly give that away. But that homegrown flavor derives mostly from the decidedly Latin tropical infusion of the duo’s productions.
Spicy Afro-Cuban rhythms dominate the album throughout, complete with congas and claves. But there’s also plenty of nods to the spartan futurism of Detroit and Berlin, especially on moody, atmospheric standouts like “Just Before Midnight” featuring vocalist Cari Golden and the cavernous hard-hitting “Radio Signals From Outer Space.”
Ds and Cs’ Placing Ourselves Elsewhere LP is out on Beatport on Tuesday, August 2nd. Be sure to pick up a copy and support local techno.
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