From the land of future beatmaking obscura, Faces bubbles up from a subterranean jazz club where reality is spotty, and the hookahs are plentiful.

The 12″ split between Los Angeles’ Mike Gao (a one-time MTV Iggy Artist of the Week) and Japan’s Daisuke Tanabe is a journey of avant-engineering and samples made for “serious collectors, DJ’s and record addicts only!” according to the release copy. It’s not a heavy album, but it requires patience for those looking for tangible drops. The EP cracks, sizzles, winds, and repeats. It’s the future, and you’re not supposed to be comfortable.

Both self-admitted nerds, Gao is a PhD candidate, music technology inventor, and part of LA’s Low End Theory crew. Tanabe is a Ninja Tune veteran who flexes instrumental hip hop and dubstep chops on Faces. The album is undeniably niche — or, “ahead of its time” depending on who you talk to — but it’s testament to the Think Tank-esque innovation coming from this ever-growing faction of electro-instrumental-heads.

Watch Mike Gao’s video for the moon jazzy “Run Before You Wake,” feat. a jumpy hip hop beat, cutting 8-bit, and and some f***ed up masks.