The huge swathe of dance festivals has been slightly taking over the Croatian coastline for around a decade now, yet the internal scene isn’t flourishing quite as much. Perhaps this fledgling record label from the Adriatic coast, based in Split, is about to change that. Run by 23 year old Ante Matas (aka Cuisine Dub), whose previous projects have been more house oriented, Fields & Forests is a chance to showcase elements of jazz and the more downbeat end of the spectrum.
The whole EP has a feeling of taking you through the perfect lazy Sunday afternoon and lead track ‘Flegma’ is the perfect alarm clock. Smooth and silky, but also rousing and interesting enough that you don’t want it to end. A synthesised bassline fuses with an improvised vocal and woodblock percussion and then gives way to the full track, featuring some wonderful organ work.
The rest of the EP brings in more latin-inspired elements, which really seals the deal for us. Our only gripe is that the tracks are so short. There’s almost not enough time to sink your teeth in before the next track begins. Once the soft harmonica sustained notes and delicious jazz piano improvisations of ‘Mendula’ are over though, it’s got you wondering when the next EP from this artist will be hitting the turntable.
Cuisine Dub – Fatureta EP is out 11th Jan on Fields & Forests Records. Pre-order from Juno.
