Templar Sounds

Templar Sounds is a Sydney based (big fuggin ups) record label that formed in 2011. It has produced some fantastic records of late, mostly exploring the darker sides of IDM and UK bass with a plethora of low-end presha, RnB vocals and haunting synth malfunctions. This is interesting for me, as a resident of Sydney. The city is generally associated with the shining sun and clear water, but the artists on this roster are digging deeper, and producing far more interesting music than the next whiny suburban Birthday Party rip off.

Although we have blogged about Citizen before, Dro Carey seems the break-out success of those on the label. This collaboration with Brooklyn's Andy Petr proves his ability to step up to the plate and throw a doozy. Blaring, sirenic, heavily flangered synths provide the backbone of the track while the rhythm work trips out through a field of disciplines and genre - in its last 30 seconds the song stutters into a hip-hop bounce after traversing much ground of the ardkore continuum. The track is also exemplary of the overall feel of the label - it is dark in a complex way, it is a darkness keenly aware of, and in tune with, light. In this way, Templar could be the soundtrack to a post-MDMA haze, the sadness upon realising the fact that the happiness of the weekend, of the show or the set, is over.

Skanky's 'Blind Spot EP' maintains a similar awareness of light and dark. The EP is packed to the brim with RnB vocal samples, but not in the flavour-of-the-month style of other producers - they are a consistent theme throughout the EP, constantly reminding the listener of the happy place that this deepness has emerged from. For me the highlight is the title track, with its gut-wrenching bass, immaculately arranged vocal samples, buzz-saw synths and ghostly arpeggiators.
If you're in Sydney, keep your eyes close on this label, its movements and its recently released compilation, from which the Dro Carey & Andy Petr song is taken.