Preview: Mystica Tribe “Flowers / Stars Are Mine”

03 Apr 2013 — Henning Lahmann

Still largely and undeservedly overlooked by most, Tokyo's Taka Noda, who since 2010 records as Mystica Tribe, is about to drop not one but two follow-up records to his remarkable 2011 debut Meditation Stick. Again released by Rotterdam-based imprint Syncom Data Records, the EPs Flowers and Stars Are Mine both continue to delve deep into dub-heavy territory, with techno-leaning compositions that give a lot of weight to bass while leaving enough space for every single element within the arrangement to breathe. The textures exude a somewhat exotic feel, though it is unclear if that is due to the listener's preconception of dub, the knowledge of the artist's origin, or simply the occasional, eponymous tribal beats that break up the tracks' basic grid. All along, the music's otherness remains elusive and hard to really attribute to a particular place: Mystica Tribe's music will send you off on a trip, but the destination remains obscure.

The Flowers EP is out already, Stars Are Mine arrives May 7. Order Flowers now via Clone Records. Stream snippets of both EPs below.