Nautiluss

The latest EP from Toronto, ON-based producer Graham Douglas Bertie, Habitat contains four solid tracks that skirt the boundaries of house and techno. Bertie is previously best-known as the producer behind Toronto, ON grime duo Thunderheist (who were signed to Ninja Tune offshoot Big Dada), as well as for collaborations with Brooklyn, NY's Jubilee and the UK's Simon Lord. As Nautiluss, Bertie has already released work on labels such as Turbo Recordings and London's famed Hemlock, which lists James Blake amongst its slew of quality and cutting-edge artists. Habitat leads off with the fantastic dark groove of "Depth Charge" seguing almost seamlessly into "Surfeit," a grooving house track that manages tonally to retain the dark, subaquatic murk that the opening track leads with. Third track "Sunder" is impossible to keep still to, starting off as more of a lively tech-house banger that turns dark midway through with its frantic 808 claps and sinister vocal samples, drawing heavily on Detroit techno. And final track "Stygian" wraps up the EP nicely. Habitat is the second Nautiluss EP on Turbo this year, following April's Alpha EP and an excellent live set at Montreal's MUTEK festival, and the material finds Bertie more confident than ever, moving into pleasingly darker territory.