In 2016, techno's still a male-dominated genre, but women are increasingly making advances in the field. One such artist is Seattle DJ/producer Aos (aka Kayla Waldorf), one of the catalysts of local electronic-music collective secondnature. Waldorf displays a prodigious talent for creating deep, emotive techno that eschews pounding beats while still galvanizing dance floors. Her debut EP, 90 East, dropped yesterday, and I can tell it's going to enliven a lot of DJ sets in the near future. Waldorf's label, Blankstairs, is already noting support from Terre Thaemlitz, Etapp Kyle, Rødhad, Eric Cloutier, Kangding Ray, and other internationally respected selectors.

Aos plunges us into deep, intellectually stimulating techno territory right from the start. "Revival" kicks off 90 East with a tantalizingly chilling intro before gradually accruing complex percussion accents over its stoic 4/4 kicks. "Limerence" beefs up the bass and beats while maintaining the frosty atmospheric smears in the distance. Here Waldorf proves her mastery of melodic ambience and subtle, unconventional rhythmic propulsion. "11 24" gracefully revs into a pell-mell, Teutonic glide that's redolent of the finest mid-'00s Kompakt output. "Echoic" stands as Aos's most blatant stab for dance-floor domination, but its cleverly hammering beats still come swathed in luscious soft-synth tones motorific bass frequencies. The EP concludes with Dutch producer Cyspe's remix of "11 24," which wreaths the original in a halo of radiant synth whorls. It's a tremendously hypnotic finale to a record that ensnares you with cool poise.

You can purchase and stream 90 East here.