After a rollercoaster year, tech house DJ/producer Cihan Mareno has come back fighting, finishing the year solidly with new EP ‘Local 092’ hot on the heels of last month’s ‘Balance’.
After being hospitalised twice with a heart condition and working on new material in Istanbul at the time of the protests in May, he has still managed to complete a raft of material for release as 2013 draws to a close. The latest of which is Local 092 out now on Beatport through Kaapro Records.
Having been born in Germany and raised in the Netherlands, he has been able to garner credible international support for his work in a career which has spanned 15 years. From his current base in Belgium, his prolific productions have been supported by tech luminaries like Luciano, Marco Carola, Richie Hawtin and Loco Dice.
Despite a troubled year, the man behind ethereal tech house cut ‘Eclipse’ is optimistic that the success of November’s Balance EP and Local 092 will see him get back on track going into 2014. Speaking about the past 12 months he said, “It was time to have good upcoming projects, because 2013 was a colourful year for me. After twice getting in hospital for my heart problem, I began to look differently to life and especially to my music.”
With roots in Turkey, it was clear that the events that unfolded in the early summer were much more than just an interference to creative work. “This year, we began with some great projects in Istanbul, but some historically important political events took place there as we all know. It was very sad to see such a beautiful city going through so many hard times.” We try not to get too political at The Noise Gate but as lovers of music we share his sentiments when he says “I believe that we must respect first the people [as] they respect our music!”
After the success of last year’s track ‘Elle’ – the remix of which by Hollen climbed into the top 10 on traxsource.com and had big support from Richie Hawtin, seeing it reach clubs across Europe and the shores Ibiza – Cihan’s latest offering features three original tracks as well as two remixes from label-founder Luukas Kaapro and Markomas.
Title track ‘Local 092’ definitely has a cut-and-thrust about which evokes images of an ambulance rushing through congested highways. A faint siren weaves in and out of busy percussive traffic and hard to place vocals remind us of radio chatter and the voices of attentive paramedics as you dip in and out consciousness with the hypnotic rhythm.
‘Ayla’ has much more going on at the front of the mix with a soothing male vocal sample giving the track a shamanic feel. ‘Llamadas’ works the percussion well and is the gentler of the three original pieces. The remixes still have much to offer, in particular the remix to the title track. Local 092 is a well-balanced, five track EP with quality throughout.
The release is available here now on Beatport and Cihan’s latest December tech house mix is downloadable from Soundcloud below.
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