Sonar Sessions 2008

Cosmin TRG

50WEAPONS, Berlin, Bucharest

There are those who imitate, and those who innovate: Romanian-born, Berlin-based producer Cosmin Nicolae is unquestionably the latter. At this point in time you’ll find him honing a ghostly, sketchy techno blueprint that fuses shuffling drums with eerie synths, snatched vocals-as-instruments and strains of Detroit and Chicago classicism. These analogue sounds are a stylistic mile away from the sound with which the man first emerged. Back in 2007, when known simply as TRG, a breakthrough came courtesy of 'Put You Down / Broken Hearts' - the 12" that launched Hessle Audio. The ensuing years have seen Cosmin’s sound in a state of constant flux, ever shifting through previously undefined sonic territory with releases on labels like Tempa, Hemlock, Hotflush, Rush Hour, and more recently, Modeselektor's 50WEAPONS. Although they say certain styles of music are native to certain cities, this Red Bull Music Academy alum is proving otherwise in the way his music draws distant parallels with 90s Warp, noughties London and du jour Berlin. Though impossible to pin down, there’s a distinguished and distinguishable sonic personality about all to that which bares Cosmin's name: and it’s that which makes him the essential electronic talent that he is. This set was recorded at Sónar Festival 2008 and showcases some of the man's early productions alongside dubstep classics from the likes of Mala, Martyn, and Skream.