hedonism is an ethical theory that pleasure, in a sense of satisfaction of desires, is the highest good and proper aim of human life, and this seems to also be hdnsm’s ultimate musical objective. their first release debuted as a kickstarter of “variant ep” v.a. series, showcasing three very different yet highly contemplative creations from cumsecade, anestie gomez and man spider. hdnsm flips the coin and for the second episode of “variant” series it lands on two very solid, incredibly moody and extensive works from fresh talents shcaa and cleymoore. the ep features two very different tracks yet they share the same minimalistic core. both works are blessed with intricate micro-drum arrangements for those feeling groove hungry whilst still standing tall in the experimental abstract realm pleasing those who crave unusual frequencies. a-side’s “masquée” is one of shcaa’s typical rides between sound and silence and it is hard to find another artist who understands sound gaps between grooves better than shcaa does. with his signature vocals and an incredibly delicious duality between acoustic instrumentalism and electronic slamming, this is a groovy, highly deep, very intelligently arranged piece. the flip-side “nebula”, signed by pluie/noir’s boss cleymoore, is a tip of an iceberg when it comes to the art of stripping down. in an apparently thin canvas of minimal drum arrangements there’s a vast amount of sound frequencies underneath a steady ever-kicking groove, tricking your mind into thinking that you’re hearing less than you actually perceive. nebula is hypnotic and dense but focused and sophisticatedly groovy. like the repetitive vocals you’ll hear throughout the b-side, this v.a. sticks to your mind like an addiction of some sort and pushes hdnsm to a new standard of avant-garde and forward-thinking attitude. as before, this vinyl only release comes in a gorgeous cover featuring a painting from max binski and the number of copies available is limited