Following up another triumphant appearance on Bedrock and a Sasha-smashed remix for Selador, BOg makes his debut appearance on Dale Middleton’s excellent Tarnished Tracks.

‘Borders’ shimmers with delicate, interwoven melodies from its opening seconds, underpinning things with a nice chugging bassline. From there the track builds with layer upon layer of melody, while BOg drapes everything in hazy, lovely pads. The middle section of the track introduces a squelchier hook which carries the track into the breakdown, before the track picks up momentum again with some propulsive hi-hat work. It’s very much of a piece with Petar Dundov’s sound, though without such a heavily retro feel, and like in Dundov’s work, it’s the interplay of BOg’s strong melodic ideas here that really makes the track work. On the flip-side, ‘Hacienda’ immediately delivers a hit of atmospheric, techy pads and rumbling basslines, and overall it showcases an edgier side of BOg’s output than ‘Borders’, building with hazy, discordant tones, a rippling arp, and layered percussion all the way to the gentle breakdown. There BOg encourages the listener to lower their guard, with warmer basstones and gentle melodies joining the arp, before he delivers a satisfyingly intense sequence following the drop.

This is a very cool EP from BOg and Tarnished Tracks, with both tracks hitting the spot, but the melodic pyrotechnics of ‘Borders’ winning my affections.