Michoacan makes welcome return from Hiatus on Imogen Recordings

The left of centre Californian producer is back with a bang

It's been quite a few years since we heard any new music from Michoacan, so we were excited to see this one arrive in our promo folder.

Michoacan (real name, Fernando Miranda Rios) began his musical journey at a young age. His parents were both musicians in the '70s, and growing up, Fernando’s father's music shop offered an early introduction into worlds of sampling, drum programming and synth-jamming. He released a steady stream of records from the early 2000s, with a varied but always wigged-out sound which encompassed elements of disco, post-punk, electro house and more. His previous releases on labels including Eskimo, DFA, Grayhound, and Bear Entertainment, garnered him a cult status among his fans (who include DJ Harvey), but somewhere around 2013 we stopped seeing his music appear in the racks.

Now, happily for us, he's back from hiatus, arriving on Ilija Rudman and Antonio Zuza's excellent Imogen label with something suitably stylish. The impeccably produced two-track EP includes the delightfully wobbly 'Be Side Me', where downtempo, smoke-filled beats provide the bed for off-kilter synth lines and earth-moving bass. Title track 'Knights Are Cold' is our pick. Again full of cosmically-charged synth harmonies and another heavy bass, the rhythm here is a touch more uptempo and liable to work a dance floor. Both dream-inducing tracks are blessed with a hazy sense of mystery, and typical of all of the music we've heard from him, the sound is full of character and class. A welcome return from Michoacan, hopefully signalling plenty more to come.

Michoacan ‘Knights Are Cold’ is out July 6 on Imogen Recordings, you can buy it here