- Fatigued by the fast pace of algorithmic slop? Reach for this EP of unhurried perfection from one of minimal's best labels.
- What is underground in 2026? In an era where human interactions have been reduced to metrics and social media turns culture into content, what does it truly mean to call something—a band, label, DJ, party—underground? Gun to my head, I'm not sure I could muster a definition. If anything, underground is more a marketing term than anything else these days. But if someone switched the safety on, I might point to the newest release by DJ Spence and Excalibur on Montreal label Doo.
It's hard to imagine any algorithm serving you Medium Rare's understated, minimal perfection. The EP's title track marries deep, Basic Channel-style chords with clicking hand drums and a melodic motif that sounds as if a hummingbird was playing on a washboard. For eight minutes, Spence and Excalibur allow only slight modulations of these building blocks: the drums chirp here, the melody drops out there. But the song's real genius is buried deeper within: its unhurried pace slowly unfurls like a final burst of serotonin, keeping dancers moving when all they have is muscle memory.
The A-side is worth the price of admission alone, but the flip, "Simmer," almost takes the cake. Both tracks paint with a similar palette, aiming for the warm-up rather than the hazy rave hours, but "Simmer" is a fuller, more robust track. The drums are pitched higher in the mix and creak with a slight anxiety, while the dub-infused mist of the detuned chords feel bittersweet, like the tart taste of Aperol diffusing in effervescent champagne bubbles.
These are tunes that don't fight for attention, but rather delightfully embed themselves in your subconscious, and this calibre of 12-inch is a rare feat. But for those who don't spend hours scrolling Discogs, Spence and Excalibur might be new names. Dig deeper, however, and you'll see that Medium Rare is the product of years spent as under-the-radar producers and DJs (the duo, in fact, put out their first collaborative mixtape a whole decade ago).
For those in the know, Spence and Excalibur's label Doo is a vital node of Montreal's thriving electronic scene, even if the city rarely receives the recognition granted to other hubs. The label has been putting out unbeatable records by a rotating cast of local experimentalists, including artists like DJ Frog and the scene's biggest export, PLO Man, for over half a decade now (Spence is part of the Montreal hardware supergroup SnPLO alongside PLO Man).
The fact that Medium Rare seemed to materialise out of the ether, though, underlines its appeal. It's not just that the record sounds underground (which it does), but that the whole ethos of the label and its surrounding milieu really is underground. Logging onto Doo's website feels like time-tripping into an archived Web2.0 message board from the internet's days of yore (underneath the pixelated graphics is a rich ecosystem of local creativity, including a newsletter for local parties and record distribution).
In an age of boom-and-bust trends, there's something refreshingly radical about Doo and its affiliates' commitment to their craft. Will Medium Rare go viral? Not a chance. But is its subtle, masterful brilliance testimony to real creativity bubbling up under the mainstream? 100%.
TracklistA-side: Medium Rare
B-side: Simmer