I spend way too much time on Discogs and Bandcamp and I’m still surprised by how many great records I miss and solid producers whose work has completely eluded me. Have I heard Owen Ni’s music before? Probably, but the name completely eluded me. Ni is a producer from Huntsville, Alabama with a discography of house, techno and experimental jams more than ten years deep, and Inner Voyage is Owen’s new album, dropped in late November.
The tracks on Inner Voyage are often built around a single, thin ribbon of a melody repeating like an equation, with a barely restrained chaos of fuzzy bass and jacking drums frothing up around it. I got as far as “ARQS2600,” the fourth track on the album, before I knew I would write about this; by “We Are Here” I knew this was one of the best deep house albums I’d heard this year. The vibe originates somewhere at the bottom of a drainage ditch on I-94, where the brutal pads of Chicago tracks meet the jazzy side of Detroit techno, and hits every hotspot along the way — from the elevating, psuedohypnosis of Raytek’s remix of “Beyond (Flyhigh)” to the mental steamcleaning acid journey of “S7LVERBOX.” Behind it all there’s a wandering spirit, searching — a sense of a mind that is trying to escape in the moment that music takes us out of meatspace.
There’s no let-up here, and no filler either: every one of these 10 tracks can be played by real working DJs in one context or another. They also sound amazing in your headphones at home. Brilliantly conceived and produced album by Owen Ni, a name that I’m not going to forget again.
⚪️ Inner Voyage Tracklisting
Owen Ni: Inner Voyage LP (Acquit Records / 12" Vinyl)
1. BEYOND flyhigh (06:27)
2. BEYOND flyhigh (RAYTEK rmx) (06:20)
3. MOVER (05:56)
4. ARQS2600 (06:52)
5. WE ARE HERE (04:34)
6. S7LVERBOX (04:58)
7. VISIT IN THE CLOUDS (05:29)
8. PILOT TO LAUNCH BAY (04:44)
9. YAVINIV (04:46)
10. EPILOG (04:49)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement
This record was submitted as a promo.
5 Mag Issue 217
Out Now
HOUSE OF FOUK: Originally published in 5 Mag Issue #217 featuring Dutch deep house DJ and production duo Fouk, Paris Cesvette, Azaad, Thando and more. Become a member for $2/month and get every issue in your inbox right now…
