Mission 6277 continues to be a brave imprint dedicated to exposing new talent, and thanks to label boss Jeff Mills’ belief in exposing the next generation of electronic composers, that trend should continue. Johannes Volk is the latest unknown to catch Mills’ golden ear, and based on his debut EP, there should be more to come. This vaguely Martian-themed five-tracker is chock full of deep chords, plucked-string synth sounds, skittering drum patterns, and lots and lots of atmosphere. You know, all the stuff you love about Jeff Mills records. The surprises come when, after the Mills-clone grooves of opener “Memories of the Astronaut,” the beats disappear altogether for the rest of the side. The flip returns to the Millsian Minimalism style, but one can already hear Mills himself using the ambient tracks as mix tools for his own beats. All props to Mills for being adventurous enough to release the Mission material at all, but if he keeps it up, he might just have to watch his back.

Mission 6277 / MISSION 11
[Todd Hutlock]