Ruf Kutz latest release hails from the Bundjalung County rainforests in New South Wales. The 2-tracker is the work of label founder Ruf Dug’s old mate Mike Kee, who appeared on the label way back in 2010, as M.Miutante, on the “Sydney Disco Mafia EP“, which was only the second release on the imprint. There, his contribution, “Seeing Crystals”, was a gentle, organic Rhodes and conga led groove, totally subverted by a euphoric wall of shoegaze-y feedback. Here, however, the A-side, “White Cloud Place” is warm, woozy, Brock Van Wey-like dub techno vapour. A big kick, though, moves beneath its buzz of sustain and shimmer. Soft, seductive, immersive, looped and hypnotic, with percussion and keys slowly emerging. The latter eventually tumbling in jazzy counterpoint.

Banana Moon on the flip, in contrast, is a crazy carnival. Built on a twist, coil of Afro-Cuban rhythm, but tempered by swirling, synthetic strings and, again, by jazzy Rhodes. Tropical and tribal, a bit like Tom Blip, until Mike Kee drops / switches to bleeps, and introduces an off kilter, mutant Morroder, electro arpeggio, taking the track in a more techno direction. When tune turns acidic, combined with the jazzy elements, the textures together kinda calling to mind early Dan Curtin. Then, finally, the beats fall away, leaving just the computerised orchestration, and revealing the Detroit at the track’s root. 

Mike Kee’s White Cloud Place can be ordered directly from Ruf Kutz.