Various has expanded its remit to become a �proper� label, now releasing the work of other artists in addition to Various Production themselves, and this process begins with a great EP from a new artist called Gold Panda, from whom big things are expected. This is his first full solo release, although he�s recently completed remixes for Bloc Party, Little Boots and Simian Mobile Disco, as well as being noted as one of the top ten most exciting electronic artists of 2009 in Nylon Guys Magazine. He intuitively mixes lop-sided, chopped up hip hop style beats with a gorgeous refined melodic techno sensibility creating a fresh cross-genre sound that�s distinct and accomplished. The music on this EP is influenced by a year spent living in Japan, as well as B movies on VHS video, minimal techno and hip hop, and all these influences bleed into his sound. The three tracks here were mostly made after returning back to his hometown Chelmsford after living in Japan, as the title and bittersweet mood of first song �Back Home� suggests. �Mayuri� is named after Gold Panda�s techno DJ friend who he lived with in Japan - it�s the most outright �techno� of the three tracks and was started in Japan while Mayuri was DJing in the background and later finished in the UK. �Long Vacation� is a dubstep tempo track that was made using some sound fx from a SNES game, mixed with big MPC stabs, recalling time spent in Japanese arcades trying to beat the pros at �Street Fighter�.