Mike Kee / White Cloud Place / Ruf Kutz

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…