Rene Pawlowitz, the mercurial Berlin-based producer best known for his recordings as Shed, has adopted a new alias for a 12″ of dubstep, R&B and garage-influenced cuts on his own Subsolo label.

Shed has been making forward-thinking house and techno since 2004, and garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking 2008 album Shedding The Past. That record displayed an indirect allegiance with the sounds of dubstep, and Pawlowitz, like many of his Hardwax compatriots, has drawn increasing influence from that sphere, including the more (ahem) “wonky”, synth-driven gear. As well as regularly dropping such tracks in his DJ sets (Zomby, Skream and Distance feature in his recent FACT mix), he has commissioned remixes from the likes of Peverelist and Martyn.

As well as continuing his “anonymous” series of Equalized and WAX white label releases, last year Shed put out a low-key 12″ entitled Dub Shed Sessions. It featured two Rhythm & Sound-style minimalist dub versions, one of a WAX track by the previously unheard of Panamax.

Well, now comes the debut of The Panamax Project, a new banner under which Pawlowitz explores more low-slung rhythms and dubstep-oriented sounds. Its first offering, out now, is a two-sided 12″, ‘Maximum Height’/’Maximum Width’. The A-side is particularly interesting, with hard-snapping, R&B-inflected drums and day-glo synths that remind us of no one so much as Rustie; the B, meanwhile, is an off-kilter 2-step workout employing a sound palette that will be familiar to fans of the WAX, EQD and Dub Shed 12″s. You can listen to clips of both tracks here.

Pawlowitz is expected to release a brand new Shed album on Ostgut Ton in early summer.