The saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” can be also applied to music. Some albums, EPs, and singles have amazing covers, but the music is just… bad – or vice-versa. Many are also the case in which both the artwork and the music are simply sublime – or both, a total train wreck. No, we are not going to mention any examples. You can do this mentally by yourself (just do it, it’s fun). Right now, we’d rather stick with the release premiered here: with a badass design and a stunning selection of seven dark-as-hell cuts, Marinelli’s debut EP “Manteca”, marks the 60th episode of the Oviedo-based powerhouse Espacio Cielo.

The man of the hour is a Seville-based DJ, producer, and promoter, quite well-known for his work shaking the city’s nightlife scene: he organizes various parties and is a resident of the monthly “Electronic Lunch” festival. For his very first output, he teamed up with an AAA+ team of remixers: none other than Rigopolar, Alen Skanner, Lebollet (RASTROLIVE004), and Moo Moonster (SXDNS054/TAKEOVER002/RASTROLIVE008) & Parissior (SXDNS206/FREEDL043/TAKEOVER002/BANDCAMP002/RASTROLIVE009).

The track we were solicited to review comes from the creative mind of Alen Skanner, a rising Spanish artist with previous works published on Sharped Records and Ritmo Fatale. For his take on “El Forastero”, Alen did what he does best: infused the original with heavy doses of stamina in the shape of fat basslines and sturdy synth layers. The slight increase in the BPM (from 124 to 127) simply made things fit like a glove. Puro FUEGO!

You can find (and buy) this and other music pearls on the Bandcamp page of the label.

Follow Marinelli, Alen Skanner and Espacio Cielo, peeps!