The electronic music community has always been interested in the sublime, both theoretically and literally, through psychoactive substances and transcendent experiences. If the sublime is reached amid a torrent of drum machines, then all the better. Over the past few years, a widely dispersed set of producers have seemed to approach the question of the sublime from a different angle, matching noisy sonics and hybrid sensibilities with moments of brief elation, moments that often become larger than the songs, albums and mixers that hold them. It’s an aesthetic found on Lotic’s recent Agitations mix and Rabit’s Communion EP, on most efforts released on Mr. Mitch’s Gobstopper label, and on Acre’s debut Better Strangers LP.

Seattle’s Kid Smpl has never sat comfortably in any one mold, advancing from the “night bus” inspired UK sounds of his early releases on Hush Hush Records to a current sound that touches on everything from digital dancehall, jungle and the hyperreal stylings of FKA Twigs, Kelela and Le1f. Often times, those influences only seem to flit in and out of a song momentarily, the remainder filled by wide-eyed cinematics, often accompanied by the sounds of worlds tearing apart. Smpl’s music has always been imbued with a sense of the dramatic and while his aesthetic has slowly become more outward-focused, there’s still a distinctly personal focus in his releases, whether his reference points be Emptyset or Alkaline. His Astral Plane mix touches on both influences and contemporaries, the whole coming off as remarkably consistent with his original work despite including everything from Letta’s remembrance anthem “Where I Left You” to Lee Bannon alias DedekindCut’s crushing breakcore. Be sure to get Smpl’s Response/Ascend EP, out now on Symbols, and always look out for more from this loft-minded Northwester.

Alva Noto – xerrox radieuse -> Kid Smpl – Beyonce x VMAs Remix

DedekindCut – True Lover$ knot

Albyy – Hanging On -> WWWINGS – Death Wish

Tim Hecker – Stigmata I

Visionist – Safe

Eaves – GBHM

Drake & Future – Jersey

Letta – Where I Left You

Kid Smpl – Glyph Fell

Bruised Skies – Consequence -> Earz – Every Room

Chambers – _E_

Kid Smpl – Repeat Balance -> Angel-Ho – Revolter

DJAO – Lights Off

J(ay).A.D – I Need Her

Kelela – All the Way Down

SHUTTLE 358 – Burrowed vows

Kid Smpl – Focus Ribbon

Kid Smpl – Response Ascend

yyy – troyka pt.I

Celestial Trax – Reasons

DedekindCut – Further (with and open mouth)

Burial – Kindred

Alva Noto – xerrox isola

Kid Smpl – Blade