Various Artists – Blank Slate 006

Blank Slate emerged early last year as a potent outlet for deep, druggy house sounds, launching with a modest but striking white label 12-inch with dark, propulsive tracks by the likes of North Lake, Arnaldo, Mirko, and Qy. Now a full year and five 12-inches later, the label returns with its second compilation, upping the ante with four more scourges of bleak techno. Minicromusic Rec-founder Michael Wolski’s “Derivate” opens the set with a glitching careen of warbled bass and fragmented color while newcomer Schaa’s “Remorse” drops out any hint of luminescence. Schaa’s tune is the most alien here, doing more with a brief, strangled vocal sample than Herbert could ever dream of. Comute’s “Black Pressure” opens the flip-side opting for a skittish drift of unpolished percussion, making White Visitation’s, appearing simply as “WV” here, hollowed-out piano-noir of “Inthecity” all the more vibrant. The Mexican producer’s quiet return is warmly welcome since his last release with Styles Upon Styles. Blank Slate 006 is available for preorder now via Halcyon.