V/A :: DE:10.02 (De:tuned)

DE:10.02 shifts the focus. Where its predecessor concentrated on heady grooves and full bodied beats, this latest is more concerned with the esoteric side of the machine. Harmonies rise and fall, roll and twist and they grow and flourish under the tutelage of three very different musicians. Three tracks that span twenty five years of electronics, three tracks of atmospheric grace, the shadowy depths and the undulating warmth.

De:Tuned is a label on a mission. Ten releases to celebrate their decade anniversary. The first collection set the bar pretty high, but, then again, the Belgian imprint always does. Number two is fresh from pressing plants and, like its predecessor, hosts a wealth of heavy hitters.

A legend of electronics opens this second installment. With releases on seminal platforms like Apollo, R&S and Novamute, Sun Electric pioneered in the 90s. “Every Now And Then” is a rarity, a modern production from the duo of Max Loderbauer and Tom Thiel. Masters of the understated, the partnership deliver a haunting work. Strangled strings are submerged in a syrupy soup of silicon, glazed notes resonating and rising in a haze of delay. A slow marching rhythm trudges, clanking and creaking drums anchoring heady keys in this audio dreamscape.

Higher Intelligence Agency are another trailblazing outfit of the halcyon days of British techno. Fixtures of Beyond, Fax and Source, the sounds of Robert Bird reflect the organic movements and tumultuous changes of the natural world. Interestingly, this offering, “Shift”, despite being made some twenty years before “Every Now And Then,” flows with the same fluid freedom that characterizes the Sun Electric track. Meandering melodies bend and curve against skittering drum patterns, distant echo and orbiting bleeps in a wonderfully immersive work.

The flip is occupied by a more contemporary outfit. Deepchord surfaced in the early 2000s with a revitalized vision of dub-techno. From these roots a sound that re-imagines industrial wastelands and re-interprets man’s place in our technologically centered existence. “Garden” comes from another source of inspiration, science fiction. A steady pulse is the bedrock from which Rod Modell constructs his audio realm. Swirls of cloud, icy showers, fading warmth and footfalls are conjured from subtle shifts in form and sound as a shamanic quality takes hold in this ten minute odyssey.

DE:10.02 shifts the focus. Where its predecessor concentrated on heady grooves and full bodied beats, this latest is more concerned with the esoteric side of the machine. Harmonies rise and fall, roll and twist and they grow and flourish under the tutelage of three very different musicians. Three tracks that span twenty five years of electronics, three tracks of atmospheric grace, the shadowy depths and the undulating warmth.

DE:10.02 is available on De:tuned. Purchase at Phonica, Juno, Red Eye, or Deejay.