Rhythmic Steps releases lefthandsoundsystem EP, spanning minimal to micro house

Rhythmic Steps used lefthandsoundsystem’s Yao Yae On EP [RS028] to do something the best minimal labels know how to do: make a small package feel carefully chosen. With just three tracks, Yao Yae On, Yao Yae On (Nicolas Barnes Remix), and Rewrex, the Budapest imprint framed the release as a precise introduction rather than a crowded showcase.

That restraint fits the label’s identity. Rhythmic Steps has described itself as an event series and record label from Budapest, and it marked RS028 as its 28th release, a sharp run for a label that said it launched in August 2025 without overthinking it. The new EP sits squarely inside that fast-built catalog logic. It is tagged deeptech, electronic house, deep electronic house, house music, micro house, microhouse, minimal, minimal house, minimal techno, rominimal, and Budapest, a tag stack that reads less like genre sprawl than a map of exactly where this record lives.

The artist profile behind the release gives the EP even more weight. Rhythmic Steps identified lefthandsoundsystem as a Japanese producer, while Discogs lists the act as Ken Aoki and places him in Japan as a techno artist. Other label blurbs have tied him to Saitama, and his recent run has moved across Beachside Limited, Ibiza Boys, Leporelo., Interplanetare Lab, ECOUL SND, LOGIA, cutting corners, Minikron, and ARM (RO). A 2021 SoundCloud promo described him as a prolific producer with more than 300 tracks across labels, and the sound descriptions attached to his name keep circling the same core: deep, dub, tech, techno, and minimal, delivered with a less is more approach.

Nicolas Barnes brings a complementary angle to the record’s only remix. Discogs identifies him as an electronic music DJ and producer from Riga, Latvia, and his ECOUL SND imprint says it was created to spread dub and minimal sound. That makes his take on Yao Yae On feel like a natural dialogue between adjacent scenes rather than a generic club edit. Barnes has been active with ECOUL SND since at least 2020, so his presence on RS028 reads as a peer-level exchange between two catalog-driven operators who understand how much a single remix can extend a release’s identity.

In the end, Yao Yae On EP works because it does not pretend to be bigger than it is. Rhythmic Steps has turned a three-track package into a clean label statement, one that connects Japanese production, a Latvian remix voice, and a Budapest imprint with a firm ear for minimal techno, microhouse, and rominimal function. That is the kind of compact curation that gives a small EP real room to breathe.