The style of techno that Savage Grounds are exploring isn’t the conventional type. Their form adopts the underproduction of Chicago house, the bursting rage of EBM and the embittered beats of industrial. Tense, tough and tortured from the Swiss duo.
I was out playing records recently in Madrid, a warm up set. I realized while putting the tracks together that one label was featuring more than others: Lux Rec. Well, Lux Rec and MRT. The Swiss label has been consistently delivering the electronic goods. In recent years there has been a stretching of styles. Lux was never one to be pigeon-holed but of late there’s been a greater shift with the influences of EBM, industrial and wave coming through. The latest calls on these genres to contort and twist the stereotype of the dance floor.
Daniele Cosmo and Florin Buchel aka CCO (Contra Communem Opinionem) are once again pulling down their masks to become Savage Grounds. This time the partnership is in darker form than usual. Four tracks of black and brooding techno are collected for Unpleasant Music for Unpleasant People. Metallic shuffle, acidic slaps and stretched bass lines are punished for “Uproar. These same elements resurface in deviant “Soaring.” Melodies are pulled and tortured, contorted and unraveled in a bitterly emotive piece. The record, its looping chords, distorted rhythms and static soaked pulses, pull you in further and further. Respite is ground, minced by the screech and flaying of “Motoric.” “Deranged” is the closest you’re going to come to relief. Heavy bass and rhythms are relaxed in a this sour and sadistic take on acid.
The style of techno that Savage Grounds are exploring isn’t the conventional type. Their form adopts the underproduction of Chicago house, the bursting rage of EBM and the embittered beats of industrial. Tense, tough and tortured from the Swiss duo.
Unpleasant Music for Unpleasant People is available on Lux.
