PREMIERE: Âsan - Bass Bin [ÂSAN]
We’re really excited to share a premiere with you from a close friend of Delayed, someone we know and love - Hassan Siddiqui, or Âsan as he is known musically. Some of you may remember that he recorded the most beautiful & immersive 4 hour journey for us just over a year ago. He has accompanied us at our Delayed getaways in the Catskills & I actually first connected with him there in that same place in the forest, almost 2 years ago. Before he & I met, he had released his debut EP ‘GULP/GAME’ as the first on his own Cellar Door, an imprint which has since blossomed into a catalog of 12 releases from talented artists as well as a mix series & premiere platform. Since then, it has been a joy to watch Âsan develop & grow as an artist.
From afar, Âsan may appear to be in hibernation but he has in fact been meticulously crafting his sound in the shadows with an incredible attention to detail. More than 2 years after his first solo release, he returns to the public eye with a new collection of music, a 4-track EP called ‘Beychen’. In Âsan’s native tongue of Urdu, this word means ‘restlesss’ or ‘uneasy’, words that are poignantly analogous to the mood & tone of the tracks on the release. ’Bass Bin’ is a track that materialized out of Âsan’s time experimenting with the Buchla Easel. “Except for the kick and clap. Everything in the track is from that one synth. I always try to work with as few instruments and sounds as possible,” he said when I asked about the production process behind the track. “If I can find myself lost & immersed in the end result, I think the listener can too.” He expresses a contemplative, minimalistic approach to techno that is inherent to his production process - filling the space with very few elements & focusing on reusing existing sounds rather than adding more to the canvas. His low end sound choices & mixing approach give his music a very distinct sound & feel. There is this deep thump but at the same time it has a feathery bounce. ”The idea behind the track was to work with bass-heavy elements. I absolutely love working with bass-forward music but a lot of the time, bass-heavy elements don’t translate on huge sound systems where subs are already extenuated. I wanted the grooves to be wall-shaking & the kick to be a punch in the gut.” The result of this process & thinking can be heard below. We’re looking forward to watching our friend Âsan continue his artistic journey.
‘Beychen’, the 4-track, 140 gram vinyl, will be available April 1st on Âsan’s own Bandcamp & stocked at record shops worldwide.