MRTN-CSTR‘s recent offering to Pueblo Nuevo, the EP titled “Radiam”, appears with music soaked in the “gamer” spirit, but not necessarily in its sonority, which is developed through other methods. By this I mean that while it alludes to the aesthetics of video games, in terms of speed and energy, at the same time it moves away from the rudimentary 8-bit sound associated with its origins.

Castro has labeled his work “Midi Art”, a production based on the use of sequencers that interact with both hardware and virtual devices, and whose characteristic is music that circulates in fast tempos, perhaps relating to the AFX world or the more digital Squarepusher, to name a couple of popular references. In this album we can hear short melodic lines that overlap and evolve carefully and, sometimes, frenetically, as in “Integraton” or in “Radiam”, the title track for this release.

These are four carefully crafted compositions, which enjoy a well crafted audio mix, with a mastering that does not sacrifice timbres in favor of volume, and an interesting point of view and musical personality, which strengthens the career of the Argentine musician, who has already traveled the label’s road with two previous releases, oscillating in different electronic styles, always with his ears set on personal experimentation.

Claudio Pérez (Usted No!)
(Santiago, Chile. September 2024)