D'Julz's Bass Culture Records has undoubtedly been one of the major highlights of 2009. In just four releases the French label has set the bar for all others in terms of quality and 2010 is looking to be a groundbreaking year for them. First release of '10 sees the label head keeping it French with the 'Ivory Machine E.P.' from Arnaud Le Texier. 1990 saw the start of Arnaud Le Texier's musical journey. A journey that has taken him from early DJ sets and record shop management in Rennes, a five year residency at Paris's 'Queen' Club, touring throughout Europe and North America, the 2004 launch of 'Safari Electronique' Records, and, in 2006, a move to London, where he now resides. Since its inception, and due to the quality and diversity of its output, his Safari Electronique label has won great recognition and support throughout the international scene. This has enabled Arnaud to attract and release material from artists including D'Julz, Italoboyz, Shinedoe, Damian Schwarz, Luca Bacchetti and Johnny D.??Arnaud is now a regular spinner at some of Europe's finest, underground nightspots. His productions and remixes have found homes on superb labels. In 2009 already Arnaud has released and remixed for Children of Tomorrow, 20:20 Vision,Robotronic and SCI+TEC Digital Audio. Today's E.P. opens with the title track. Deep and hypnotic, its long atmospheric intro leads us to its key stabs, and the tougher kick drum. Each sound is beautifully layered to create the complete opener. On the remix of 'Ivory Machine' is Alex Picone. Fresh from the success of his own Bass Culture release, the 'Thai E.P.' and in sparkling form, Alex maintains the original's elemental structure, ups the tempo and adds some powerful snare and cymbal work. Finally, and rounding out the E.P. is 'The Saturday Kick Project'. 'Kick' is most definitely the predominant word here, from the power of the opening few bars we know we are in for something heavy. With an almost warehouse feel, the weighty beats are matched with spacey sounds and percussion that work perfectly together.