fredag 17 Dec 2010, 6:35

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This week's podcast comes from someone who certainly ranks among the hottest artists of the year 2010: Bucharest's Cosmin Nicolae, better known as Cosmin TRG.

Nicolae originally become known under the name of TRG when he single-handedly put Romanian dubstep on the map back in 2007. His very first single, 'Put You Down / Broken Heart', was the first release on Ramadanman's Hessle Audio imprint and provided a template for the label's influential deep and reduced dubstep style. Both tracks received much attention at the time, spawning equally acclaimed remixes by Martyn and label boss Ramadanman the following year.

More TRG releases on followed in short succession Immerse Records and Dutch imprint Subway, before in late 2008 Nicolae signed to London's Tempa imprint for the brilliantly shuffled-up single 'Decisions', making him the pioneering label's first artist not to hail from the UK.

After a rather quiet 2009 Nicolae returned to the release circuit early this year with a surprising change to his sound - and his name. Now going by Cosmin TRG, his second Tempa release, 'Now You Know', incorporated straight 4-by-4 beats into his productions for the first time, presenting a remarkably unique conception of dubbed-out and funked-up house music.

Amsterdam's Rush Hour label was quick to take note and offered Cosmin TRG an ideal platform to experiment with his new style. His two singles 'See Other People' and 'Liebe Sünde' undoubtedly factored into RA's decision of choosing Rush Hour as its label of the year 2010 - a year that further saw Cosmin TRG exchanging remixes with New York's Falty DL, contributing to Modeselektor's 'Modeselektion', and reworking Aardvarck's 'Nosestep'. And if all that wasn't enough, Cosmin Nicolae also revived his TRG alias for a recent single on Hemlock Recordings, 'Tower Block / Béton Brut', proving that his love for abstract dubstep hasn't subsided either.

Cosmin TRG's exclusive zero" podcast has the inventive producer focus on the housier side of things. Starting out with Basic Channels classic 'Q1.1 III', Nicolae mixes his way through a highly interesting selection of current productions, including highlights such as Nick Höppner's remix of Airhead's 'Paper Street', and Schatrax 2010 edit of 'Champagne Dancer'.

Listen here:
http://www.zero-inch.com/blog/Podcast/Cosmin_TRG/15848