Troy Pierce, Marc Houle & Magda team up to present their first ever trio release on Items & Things, “Down & Out Vol 1" - which takes its name from their newly created party series - events that are based around the dark & intimate, off the radar, and under the ground. Troy Pierce starts things off with ‘Majikal,’ introducing the EP’s dark magic with a climbing bassline, scattering, almost anxious percussion and buoyant sound effects panned throughout. Ominous atmospheres and weighted textures produce a cinematic accompaniment to surveyors of uncharted terrain. Building a continual tension-and-release cycle, the track is a lucid whirlwind of sonic imagery and trickery, balancing visceral sounds with the otherworldly. Magda teams up with Suade, a producer & friend from Newcastle that we’re sure to see more of, together they bring forth a true builder, a creeper; the type of track that reveals itself more with each layering sequence. A masterclass in dynamics, ‘Fixation’ is a dark groove that’s haunted by a chilling vocal, wavering synth vibrato, unexpected melodies, and juxtaposes of funk. Angular drums hit alongside swells of percussive echoes but, the focus of the track revolves around the bassline’s movement. As catchy as it is esoteric. Marc Houle’s ‘Slowpe’ ends the EP with a slightly slower pace, but in a disconcerting way: taking it down a few notches this one that transports the listener to the strangest dimension yet. Filtered melodies start the track’s ascent, sounding like a trumpet that’s been bent out of shape and played from the void. With dark textures compactly knit into a condensed wall of sound, a low-slung bassline trades places with eerie chords and sparse percussion. File under: techno, tech-house, disco-tek, experimental