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JOHN TALABOT DJ KICKS EXCLUSIVE STREAM

Listen to Temple Rymtik 'Anagram'

He's a slippery chap, John Talabot. Reluctant to reveal his face to the press, his music is equally elusive, difficult to pin down as house, disco, techno? Even pop... or something else completely.

Truth is, he's all these things, by no means for the sake of it. Emerging at the beginning of 2012 with 'Fin' — one of the most stunning debut LPs we've ever encountered — his unique style is one fashioned out of all of the above, yet only his entirely.

On his mixed contribution to the eminent 'DJ Kicks' legacy, his diverse array of musical touch points are arranged to create a linear mass of organic texture. Majestic pop, harmonic house and orchestral techno are all sown together as a downy-feathered quilt of stodgy warmth, the rich vein that's become Talabot's trademark texture.

The first 15 minutes, however, are very much a mire; a trippy underworld featuring an obscure oubliette (Pye Corner Audio), a series of soot-slathered engine rooms (Andy Stott) and some sweltering jungle haunted by tribal drums (Young Marco), until Axel Boman's 'Klinsmann' lifts us out with a robotic Italo stomp.

The most impressive moments, however, are those that uncurl elements of unashamed pop into chest-clutching set pieces. Moodymann's remix of Mara TK is a clunky r&b cut before Alex Burkat's 'Shower Scene' unleashes grandiose symphonic techno. Then there's the highlight; Talabot's own harmonic heartbeat 'Glass' and its transition into the lush metallic melodies of Max Mohr's 'Old Song' — you need to hear it to believe it (out 11th November).

Stream Tempel Rymtik 'Anagram', produced exclusively for DJ Kicks by John Talabot alongside Alex Berg of Genius of Time (out soon on Hivern Discs)...