Tapan - Europa LP (2018)

Following two fine teaser singles on Malka Tuti, Tapan (AKA Belgrade-based producers Nebosja Bogdanovic and Goran Simonosk) are finally ready to unleash their debut album, Europa. A genuinely unique proposition, the set sees them flit between mind-altering Middle Eastern dub-jazz (the trippy title track), delay-laden late night soundscapes (the brilliant “In My Heart”), woozy post-punk dystopia (“Bogovi”), percussion-rich, horn-heavy weirdness (“Trouble”) and the kind of dubwise, other-worldly fare that we’d once have expected to hear from early ’80s Bristolian bands such as Maximum Joy. It’s naturally hugely atmospheric, but more impressive than that is the duo’s imaginative approach. While the influences are easy to spot, describing the results is pleasingly tricky.