South Africa’s Deano follows the ‘Octagon’ EP for Ben Sims’ Symbolism in 2021 with his ‘Paleo’ EP for sister label, Hardgroove.

Comprising five originals and a remix from techno legend, Mark Broom, ‘Paleo’ finds DJ/producer and Knowledge label boss Deano in meaty form. Urgent, powerful and funky techno is on the menu from the off, with ‘Epoch’, ‘Venus of Tan-Tan’ and ‘Terra Amata’ all showing a deft touch when it comes to teasing rock-solid grooves into peak time monoliths. The second half of ‘Paleo’ is ‘The Oldowan’, a grinding cut that unfurls into a masterclass in using repetition to hammer a dancefloor. Broom’s remix snips away at the original and adds screw-face low-end and percussive guts before Deano’s ‘The Oldowan V2’ sees the producer mangle the original into a crunching, filtered banger.