Endgame

After emerging in 2011 via a rapid-fire series of groundbreaking EPs, Brooklyn-based producer Ital (Daniel Martin-McCormick) surprised followers by releasing his debut album "Hive Mind" on Planet Mu in February 2012. The record immediately struck a chord with both critics and fans for its fascinating use of house rhythms to bolster fractured, alien landscapes with a surprisingly tender emotional power. Seemingly unconcerned with dance music orthodoxy and informed by years in the noise-punk underground, his compositions came out of left field, constructed on primitive software with bizarre, culture jamming samples. Dance music in New York was re-emerging after a period of stagnation, and Ital was among the first of a younger wave of producers to invigorate it with a dose of visceral vitality. Since then, he's remained at the forefront with a remarkable EP for esteemed label Workshop, a collaboration with Hieroglyphic Being and a pair of excellent EPs on his own Lovers Rock imprint.