London-based producer Patten (another enigmatic figure whose real name is apparently so well-guarded that even his emails are signed off with the single letter ‘D’) released his stunning debut album GLAQJO XAACSSO on the quickly-maturing No Pain In Pop label at the end of last year. A disorientating update on the classic sound design of late 80’s / early 90’s Detroit and Chicago techno, combined with arrhythmic interventions on the beats and fragments of speech samples, Patten is deservedly carrying with him the accomplishment of bringing together electronic music’s divergent styles in the same way that the considerably better-known Burial or James Blake do.

Where GLAQJO XAACSSO succeeds is in its hypnogogic surrealism. Like drifting between wake and sleep on a train journey through a 1992 warehouse party, the ear is drawn to shards of melody in different places, the pulsing basslines steady and shake themselves around heavy pads. It can seem like a difficult listen on the surface - melodies and speech pops disappear as soon as they arrive - but the reality is that Patten’s ability to envelop and immerse takes over before identifying itself. Like the title itself: harsh and impenetrable? Perhaps. Oddly beautiful and indefinably satisfying? Definitely.

Check out ‘Fire Dream’ from the album below: