- Lake Haze, AKA Gonçalo Salgado, took his name from a Drexciya track on Harnessed The Storm. On his latest EP, Intergalactic Communicationz, there are nods to James Stinson and Gerald Donald's music, but he pays his respects from a reasonable distance. Recognising that he only needs a salty synth lead and a certain snare to capture the gist, Salgado wisely leans towards his own preferences—distortion-free 909s, jacking Chicago house, soft hand drums—to flesh out the record. Intergalactic Communicationz pulls from a specific corner of Drexciyan music, more the spectral, synth-drenched soul of "Andreaen Sand Dunes" or "700 Million Light Years From Earth" than, say, "Digital Tsunami"'s scratchy electro.
From the puckish basslines of Force Of Nature to the acid-rave hybrids of this year's Aranhas EP, Salgado keeps a steady hand across several styles, and Intergalactic Communicationz' blend of old and new is no exception. The doomscape acid of "At The Gates Ov Futron" has a '90s warehouse techno feel, with hints of Legowelt in the synth work. (Ditto the plaintive melody in the title track.) "Drexciyan Aquarium" may over-romanticise the duo, but Salgado evokes the steely spirit of Stinson and Donald's music on "Poseidon's Dream," with sunken kicks giving way to rapid-fire hi-hats, searing synth pads and an X-Files-style countermelody. In deferring to an inspiration's greatness, tributes like Intergalactic Communicationz tend to undercut their own power. But Salgado puts enough space between the music he loves and his reverence for it to make a compelling case for his work.
TracklistA1 At The Gates Ov Futron
A2 Drexciyan Aquarium
B1 Poseidon's Dream
B2 Intergalactic Communication