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Posted On: September 8th 2026, 06:33 pm
I was somewhat surprised to see a brand-new release from Ukraine’s Vakula in Phonica’s racks the last time I was there. The surprise was twofold: firstly, because he’s claimed to have sold all his gear and jacked in the electronic music lark a couple of times*; and secondly there’s that whole war thing** which I assumed would impinge on making tunes.
However the Pulsation EP has come about, it’s great to have the Vak-man back doing what he does best, which is making deeply idiosyncratic house music, and this 12” on French label Pure Delay is… well, pure Vakula. We’ve got four tunes all clocking in at 120 BPM, all tripping into acid-house mysticisms with flecks of electro, great samples, proper weighty bass, and maybe even something… trance-y (or at least, trance-inducing), and all with that hard to quantify Vakula-ness. My favourite is what I think is the B2, The Resonant Path, with the acid line gradually emerges from the murk, but all four are ace. (The trip-factor is increased somewhat by the label art, which appears to be identical on both sides, and identical runout grooves makes identifying side A and B… tricky.)
The release notes probably say it better than I could: ‘These pieces aren’t just for the dancefloor — but under the right DJ, they can still shift the room.’ Quite. Great gear for the deep house heads, and no clips on the ‘gram so you’ll have to do some searching, but it’s well worth seeking out.
*Most notably during the deeply weird Per Aspera Ad Astra thing in 2019, which I won’t rehash here — the whole strange saga is easily findable.
**During the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I distinctly remember seeing that Konotop had been affected and wondering about Mikhaylo Vityk. The only reason I knew anything about the city was thanks to the You’ve Never Been To Konotop LP on Firecracker — which is probably the single best thing he’s done (to my ears, at least). And will probably remain true for a while; I’ve still got no plans to go to Konotop.
#vakula #pulsation #puredelayrecords #deephouse #vinyl
However the Pulsation EP has come about, it’s great to have the Vak-man back doing what he does best, which is making deeply idiosyncratic house music, and this 12” on French label Pure Delay is… well, pure Vakula. We’ve got four tunes all clocking in at 120 BPM, all tripping into acid-house mysticisms with flecks of electro, great samples, proper weighty bass, and maybe even something… trance-y (or at least, trance-inducing), and all with that hard to quantify Vakula-ness. My favourite is what I think is the B2, The Resonant Path, with the acid line gradually emerges from the murk, but all four are ace. (The trip-factor is increased somewhat by the label art, which appears to be identical on both sides, and identical runout grooves makes identifying side A and B… tricky.)
The release notes probably say it better than I could: ‘These pieces aren’t just for the dancefloor — but under the right DJ, they can still shift the room.’ Quite. Great gear for the deep house heads, and no clips on the ‘gram so you’ll have to do some searching, but it’s well worth seeking out.
*Most notably during the deeply weird Per Aspera Ad Astra thing in 2019, which I won’t rehash here — the whole strange saga is easily findable.
**During the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I distinctly remember seeing that Konotop had been affected and wondering about Mikhaylo Vityk. The only reason I knew anything about the city was thanks to the You’ve Never Been To Konotop LP on Firecracker — which is probably the single best thing he’s done (to my ears, at least). And will probably remain true for a while; I’ve still got no plans to go to Konotop.
#vakula #pulsation #puredelayrecords #deephouse #vinyl
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