LCAISE, ERDAL MAUFF — Miroir Of Afterthought EP

Lcaise / Erdal Mauff – Miroir Of Afterthought EP is the first vinyl release on Achse Records, issued as catalogue number ACHSE001 in 2025. Pressed as a 180g 12-inch vinyl record, the four-track EP brings together two original productions by Lcaise and Erdal Mauff with remixes from Silat Beksi and Fedo. Sitting firmly between minimal house, deep house and tech house, Miroir Of Afterthought EP is a carefully balanced record built around detailed grooves, glassy textures, vivid electronic accents and the understated rhythmic precision associated with contemporary underground house music. The release opens with Lcaise’s “Devant Le Miroir”, a 7:40 original that establishes the musical language of the record from the first bars. The French title translates as “In Front Of The Mirror”, and the track is presented as a wavy, glassy piece of house music with a distinctly hypnotic character. Juno describes the production through its reflective, textured quality, while the wider release has been consistently categorized across minimal, deep house and tech house. At 127 BPM, “Devant Le Miroir” has enough pace for a late-night club environment while retaining the spacious character required for extended mixing. What makes “Devant Le Miroir” particularly effective as an opener is its balance between movement and restraint. The groove does not need excessive arrangement changes to maintain interest; instead, the track develops through subtle shifts in its electronic textures and rhythmic details. This places Lcaise’s contribution squarely within the minimal-house tradition, where repetition becomes a tool for creating hypnosis rather than a limitation. The result is a functional DJ record with enough sonic character to remain distinctive when heard outside the context of a mix. A2 is the Silat Beksi remix of “Devant Le Miroir”. Beksi is a highly established figure within the contemporary minimal-house and tech-house underground, and his reinterpretation pushes the original material further into textural territory. Juno characterizes the remix as adding further layers of texture and reflective sonic detail to the original, creating a more fractured and intricate version of Lcaise’s groove. At the same 127 BPM as the original, the remix maintains the basic dancefloor framework while changing the way the track’s atmosphere is experienced. The relationship between the original and the Silat Beksi remix is one of the strongest features of the A-side. Rather than offering a completely unrelated interpretation, Beksi works with the identity already present in “Devant Le Miroir” and emphasizes its more abstract qualities. This makes the two tracks particularly useful together in a DJ set: the original can establish the groove, while the remix can extend the same rhythmic territory into a more textured and hypnotic direction. The B-side belongs to Erdal Mauff, beginning with “Afterthought Sines”. At 124 BPM and running for 6:30, the track shifts the EP towards a wider and more expansive sound. Juno describes it as a widescreen production built around vivid stabs and an unusually pronounced high-frequency presence, giving the track a brighter and more expansive sonic profile than the A-side. The result remains rooted in minimal and tech house but introduces a different sense of scale and atmosphere. “Afterthought Sines” is an especially important track within the release because it introduces Erdal Mauff as a new voice in the context of this Achse project. The track demonstrates an ability to maintain the economy of minimal house while allowing individual sounds to occupy more prominent positions within the mix. The contrast between the restrained rhythmic foundation and the vivid electronic accents gives the production a strong sense of depth without making it unnecessarily dense. The final track, “Afterthought Sines (Fedo Remix)”, completes the B-side with a considerably different interpretation of the same source material. Fedo’s version is described by Juno as a more bubbling, futuristic reworking, with the review comparing its atmosphere to an alien spacecraft. At 126 BPM and 7:43, it extends the original’s basic idea while pushing its sonic identity into stranger and more psychedelic territory. Fedo’s remix therefore gives Miroir Of Afterthought EP a strong closing statement. Where Erdal Mauff’s original establishes a widescreen sound through bright stabs and pronounced upper-register detail, Fedo transforms that material into something more fluid and otherworldly. The connection between the two versions is clear, but the contrast is substantial enough to make the remix work as an independent DJ tool. Across the complete four-track sequence, Miroir Of Afterthought EP is structured around two original productions and their corresponding remixes. Lcaise supplies “Devant Le Miroir”, followed by Silat Beksi’s reinterpretation, while Erdal Mauff contributes “Afterthought Sines”, followed by Fedo’s remix. This symmetrical structure gives the record a strong internal logic: each side presents an original production followed by another producer’s interpretation, allowing the listener to hear both the source material and how its essential characteristics can be transformed. The record also has significance because ACHSE001 represents the first vinyl release on Achse Records. Contemporary distributor information explicitly presents the record as the first Achse Records vinyl, while the label’s own presence around the release positioned it as a vinyl-only project. Erdal Mauff promoted the record as a vinyl-only release ahead of its publication, confirming that the physical 12-inch format is an integral part of the project rather than simply one edition among several digital formats. Lcaise’s contribution also carries an interesting historical dimension. Juno notes that “Devant Le Miroir” marked the Berlin-based producer’s return to vinyl releasing after the earlier “Gestosis” release in 2009. Lcaise’s catalogue on Beatport also includes “Gestosis”, confirming the title within his earlier discography. The long gap between that earlier vinyl activity and Miroir Of Afterthought gives ACHSE001 additional significance as a return to the physical format rather than simply another routine release. For DJs, Miroir Of Afterthought EP is particularly well suited to minimal house, deep house and tech house sets where detailed groove and gradual progression are more important than overt peak-time impact. The 124–127 BPM range across the four tracks creates natural compatibility for mixing, while the two original/remix pairings provide different levels of density and texture. “Devant Le Miroir” works as a fluid opening groove, Silat Beksi’s remix adds further textural complexity, “Afterthought Sines” expands the sound into a wider electronic space, and Fedo’s remix provides a more unusual and atmospheric closing option. For collectors, ACHSE001 has an obvious catalogue significance. It is the first vinyl release from Achse Records, a 180g 12-inch featuring four productions connected by a clearly defined minimal-house aesthetic. The presence of Silat Beksi and Fedo also gives the release additional interest for followers of the wider European minimal and tech-house scene, while the return of Lcaise to vinyl and the appearance of Erdal Mauff on the original side of the project make the record more than a standard remix EP. Lcaise / Erdal Mauff – Miroir Of Afterthought EP ultimately works because of its balance between recognizable minimal-house functionality and carefully controlled sonic detail. From the glassy, wavy groove of “Devant Le Miroir” and Silat Beksi’s more textural reinterpretation to the widescreen electronic character of “Afterthought Sines” and Fedo’s bubbling, futuristic remix, ACHSE001 presents four connected but individual approaches to contemporary underground house music. As the debut Achse Records 12-inch, it is both a strong DJ tool and a significant first chapter in the label’s vinyl catalogue.