MAMMO - Lateral

Building on a debut for Short Span and a run of EPs among the most intense in the contemporary electronic scene, Mammo returns with a dilated journey, a synthetic meditation that doesn't shy away from echoes of the IDM tradition of the Nineties, built on an elegant, low-key sonic cleanliness. “Lateral” is a gentle-toned movement through hyperspace, with the machine now firmly established as a medium capable of making us feel at home, with no intention of pushing back against it (“Xyo”). Unlike the previous extended-plays, the Dutch producer here becomes an architect of atmospheres, save for more lysergically minimal episodes such as “4.1”.

The main touchstone is Likemind Records' Nuron/Fugue project, but also the two “Artificial Intelligence” compilations on Warp: “Hovye Ruu”, with its sonic science fiction, is the most direct example. The echo of the past is perceptible, but without nostalgia, sustained instead by dynamic excursions that are rarely heard these days: no artificial flattening, but a clear acoustic breadth, further enhanced by mastering courtesy of Rashad Becker. “Traction” reinterprets the vocabulary of the most radical dub techno with a slightly off-kilter sync; “Knuckles” feels like a subtle tribute to “Octagon” by Basic Channel: same diktat, recontextualized thirty years on.

Altitude is regained with the ambient epic of “They Built A Floor Of Glass”, which recalls the striking side-project Fabiano and the sensation of a gaze turned upward. The record embraces heterogeneous territories, from the microscopic dub of “Semni” to airier variations, from nocturnal grooves to episodes that live as deconstructed electro. “Lateral” has the rhythm of a single day: it opens lightly, thickens in the middle, and grows more nocturnal toward the end. A compendium of Mammo's countless identities, and perhaps the most direct way to grasp just how singular the language he's honed over the years truly is.

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23/03/2026