ENA

ENA is the moniker of Yu Asaeda, a Tokyo-based music producer, who fuses the influence of UK rave continuum, darker and more abstract forms of drum and bass as well as cold monochrome ambient. His sound bridges UK dancefloor heritage with futurist Japanese experimentalism. Being one of the key players in Japanese underground dance music scene, he took influences from genres ranging from rave to hip-hop and thus crafted his own original sound. He releases his records on such labels as Samurai Horo, 7even Recordings and Latency. He is also notable for his collaborations with Felix K and Rashad Becker and immersive live sets melting intense bass sensibilities with abstract soundcapes.

From ENA’s catalogue

STM 296 embodies all these aforementioned elements. It is compiled from ENA’s unreleased material recorded between 2018 and now. It starts with shards of grittier pulsations drowning the listener into hypnotic, yet tense state. Later on monolithic beats kick in echoing the industrialized version of early drum’n’bass. While the mix showcases a more atmospheric side of ENA, its pulsating nature and precise density maintain the rhythmic backbone throughout. Sometimes these sounds recall distorted echoes of an underground d’n’b party in some distant basement. Their atmosphere varies from claustrophobic to spacious creating diverse states and moods for the listener. It is a trippy sonic affair with hidden physicality of darker forms of rave music.