Those Mountains - Spiral IIII (Self Release) [Dub Techno]

The Slow Music Movement
3 minutes ago
2 min read

The cover for Those Mountains' Spiral EP, showing a close-up of an orange textured fabric with crisscrossing patterns. Text "Spirals" is visible. Geometric design with a warm tone.

Lars Lervik is a Norwegian producer based up in Oslo who has spent the last five years moonlighting as Those Mountains and mostly, but not always, exploring the world of atmospheric dance music that works for both your head and your hips.

The spirals EP sees Lervik combining his love for dub and dance, with a great four track EP of dub technoid cuts. Wistfully kicking off with a hand played percussive sample, "Spirals I" soon descends into deeper electronic territory when the first cavernous, echoing synth pad lower the lights, soon to be joined by a squeaky electronic refrain that takes a back seat but whispers hypnotically in your ear, and ably supported by various choice machine sounds that come and go as they please. Wisely he opts for a some broken beats and lithe hi-hats which add a cool polyrhythmic effect and welcome swing.

"Spiral II" starts with a more familiar house riddim, but this time he chooses to tight loop the dub techno blueprint synths before they echo to infinity, creating a warm melodic techno effect and soft electronic pillow on which to rest all sorts of electronic detailing, buzzing and even lo-fi Casio trumpet sounds, before the ritualistic percussion and even some xylophone creep in during the nicely building second half. "Spiral III" launches immediately into more familiar Berlin sounds, although once again they're pleasingly twisted, this time into more jagged forms that subtly morph and insistently repeat, suggesting that the dance floor is the place to be.

"Spiral IIII" (how did you guess?), opts for a more atmospheric approach, those timeless pads initially moulded and filtered into atmospheric but somehow bouncy form, before classic skanking synth horn stabs and echoing, disintegrating piano pay respect to Jamaica's, now largely departed, reggae pioneers, whilst Lervik weaves more subtle machine constructs around his respects to remind you that it's 2025.

The EP is a great twist on the classic dub techno sounds of central Europe and deserves more attention than it's currently receiving.