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Beatport Preview / Purchase: https://www.beatport.com/release/ortygia-ep/1908109 The 48th release on microCastle welcomes Fabio Vanore-Landsberg aka Fabio Montana to the label for his debut EP. The Italian-born, Germany based artist is highly regarded for his distinctive style and musical depth. Releases on Einmusika, Click Records and his own Incroyable imprint have been praised by his contemporaries with Maceo Plex, Joris Voorn and Hot Since 82 all playlisting his music. With ‘Ortygia’Fabio begins with a neat percussive intro, layering piano chords and multifarious melodic flourishes over a decidedly rotund bouncing bassline, to enthralling effect. This delicious track casts it spell with ease and magically conjures up a swirling dervish of enigmatic energy. microCastle’s masterstroke has been to engage Love Over Entropy to repattern ‘Ortygia’. Motivated by the ideology of early Detroit pioneers and experimental IDM, his musical creations are renowned for being hypnotic and atmospheric, with a tender touch, juxtaposing an obsessive attention to detail with space, chaos and chance. As a result the Dutch artist has found a home on tastemaker labels such as Something Happening Somewhere, Lossless and Atomnation. Here he builds a deeply brooding, melodic, percussive masterpiece, and the resultant tension is palpable as his reimagining of ‘Ortygia’ sparks with eruptive bursts of fizzing energy. A stunning remix on every level, and it is no wonder that he is beloved by such heavyweights as Dixon, Mano Le Tough, Âme and Laurent Garnier. ‘Akragas’ sees Fabio Montana experiment with a more discordant musical palette, utilising stabbing synths to conjure up multifarious menacing images in the deep darkness, layered over a sparse yet rock solid rhythmic spine, infused with a subtle, head-nodding swing. Which leaves the door open for My Favorite Robot (Last Night On Earth, My Favorite Robot Records, Life & Death) to build a suitably euphoric finale to this excellent package with their remix, layering percussion, synths and FX to create a highly distinctive future-retro vibe. Jared Simms and Voytek Korab are My Favorite Robot and their vision to ignore the norm and broaden the definition of electronic music is firmly on display here, and it is perhaps fitting that these much loved Canadian artists, who in a space of a few short years have become a central part of the global electronic music scene, complete the circle here.