I’ve known Mazewski for a few years. We met not long after I moved to Leeds. We were both playing at a shisha bar in Hyde Park, and he asked me to become a resident at the parties he was planning to put on. Some people you get on with instantly. We were both fans of Damo B’s Outta Limits radio show, and, of course, we could both enthuse endlessly about tunes. A year or so later, he left the UK for Poland, and we have kept in touch. When I took part in organising a fundraiser for people affected by the conflict in Ukraine, he sent over a copy of his EP, Trans For Mate, released on the Brutaż imprint, as a donation for our auction, and he also sent a copy for me.
It’s a good job that I removed both records from their outer sleeves – a sheer accident – I went to play the copy I had already listened to, and I couldn’t (obviously) tell which was which. If I hadn’t done that, somebody would have received an EP with a handwritten note to me on the inner sleeve, and I would no longer have, or be aware of it, which would have been a shame.
Mazewski was always a great DJ, and he makes excellent music. Sen Munchy (A1) is a relentless, dark stomper – the most banging and industrial of the four tracks, while Trans For Mate (A2) is more deep and groovy. B1, AINI Flow returns to a relentless, beat-driven vibe, but it’s a spacey, dubby sound, rather than the darker techno of the first track. Goblin Disco (Afterparty) (B2) is slower and more eerie – a trippy, broken-sounding 5am on day three kind of tune. Afterafterafterparty.
It’s a particularly nice thing when you have a record that doesn’t leave your bag, and your mate made it. It’s also not one of those where there’s one track that you take it out for – I’ve played all of these tunes in sets and mixes. I also meant to write this review quite a long time ago, but 2022 was as relentless as the opening track on this EP, and I didn’t get round to it. Looking back now, I’m glad of that, because I would have just written about the tracks without the full appreciation I have for the record now. You don’t know how often you will end up playing a record. You can have a fair idea, but it doesn’t always happen that way. I’m not saying everyone should wait half a year before reviewing releases – that would be odd, and probably quite annoying for the artists and labels. In this case, it’s worked out well, though.
Words: Roya Brehl