Niederflur has always been an essential cog in the Minus wheel of invention. Since 2001, the ND series has been skillfully navigating the treacherous waters that separate the genre’s purer shores from today’s more evolved, post minimal sound... ...which leads us to the DIN EP. It’s a welcome return to Minus for Niederflur and as with all their work, the devil is in the detail. The elegant combination of horizontal and vertical elements offers intense stimulation to both mind and body, making this EP a must for traditionalists and forward thinkers alike. The title track gets the ball rolling straight away, with a subsonic growl of a bassline that goes for the jugular. As with the whole EP, DIN lives off the space between the lines, with every sound having its own part to play in the grand scheme of things. It’s also the use of restraint and the confidence to let each track unravel itself that gives their music its distinctive flavor. Isv utilizes another deep, moody analogue bassline punctuated by distorted, Tibetan percussion sounding samples. It’s a contemplative after-hour journey, cloaked with long melancholy pads and decorated with twisted, metallic efx that inhabit the outer limits of the waking mind. Exkl, on the other hand, is a raw electro house cut in the true sense. Laser guided basslines probe the surface of this neon landscape, evading the crackling drum machines and shimmering hi-hat patterns that patrol the region. Evtl provides a memorable closing piece to the EP. It’s a rich, vibrant sound sculpture with resonating chords that drift off into infinity, painting pictures on the inside of your eyelids. There’s also a Detroit influenced emotional content here that combines perfectly with the glitchy rhythmic structures, rounding off this intelligent, accomplished selection of music in style.