3EEM are an atypical instrumental trio formed by Fabrizio Bazzoni (tenor sax, with a past curriculum in various prog/noise projects), Danilo Corgnati (electric guitar and effects, currently also involved in the post-punk band Isobel) and Valerio Zucca Paul (electronics), who has released three solo records as Abstract Q (two of them being on Staalplaat/Bake). Together, they play a dark, cinematic blend of techno, dub, hard boiled jazz, psychedelia and -ahem- some "rock" as well. Rhythmic electronica is generally just not my cup of tea, but "Essence of 3EEM" has a remarkable set of tracks, manages to be extremely coherent yet not monotonous, and shows an uncommon good taste in mixing different genres and inputs. Take the skeletal dub of "Dilate me", the exotica-gone-crazy in the second half of "In the beginning it was an accordion", or the romantic drift of "Kinfu": it all works very well even after repeated listening sessions, i.e. when boredom usually starts to crawl on me. If I had to choose one standout track, I'd surely opt for the 24-minute tour de force of "24 apes", where dub beats slowly melt into mesmerizing looped guitar ambiences. The ingredients that 3EEM work on are surely well-known and widely used (and abused), but they are surely graced with the ability of skilfully arranging them. I'd recommend this record to fans of artists as different as post-"LSD" Coil, Bill Laswell, Muslimgauze, Almamegretta, Massive Attack or Morphine, and to anyone into noir-tinged atmospheric music.