Lewis Fautzi's 2014 full-length The Gare Album, one of the year's best debuts, introduced the young Portuguese artist as a notable talent, creating hypnotic minimal techno tracks which stare firmly into the void of outer space, envisioning distant worlds and galaxies. While the album contained its share of straightforward 4/4 dance tracks, cuts such as "Other Planet" moved into a more exploratory,
Plastikman-like direction. 2015 follow-up
Space Exploration dives headlong into the sort of deep-space techno pioneered by Detroit artists such as
Jeff Mills and the Martian in the '90s, weaving vast, sci-fi-inspired synth lines over measured, detailed beats. "Operating Systems" has a menacing layer of clanking percussion underneath the track's crust, adding a sort of grittiness to it. The majority of the album's tracks explore similar terrain, with skittering beat patterns and cinematic synthesizer melodies. Clocking in at barely over 30 minutes, the release is refreshingly brief, providing a glimpse into the cosmos without getting too lost in them, and leaving the listener anticipating the artist's further explorations. ~ Paul Simpson