Latest in a series of emissions from Techno’s Twilight Zone of EPs/12″s and LPs with notes in the margins.
Misty pads, diffuse beats, cycling 303s… ’90s ‘ELM’ trappings abound, but Daniel Avery’s Song For Alpha (Phantasy Sound) is no nostalgia trip. For all the thrall to AI ’tronica, Avery’s formative years in a ’00s DJ bunker makes for a fitful, flighty curator, flitting from lush ambient downs and pulsing techno ups; an articulate dialog, if you will, between then and now—measured, ultra-deep, euphonic wash and harmony affording rich sad-happy fields to greyscale ground. The shimmer of “First Light” opens onto the prompting of “Stereo L,” then “Projector” brings pulse to reverb-hazed atmo’ to prefigure the club to come. Thus the tone is set, with ambient interludes (“TBW17,” “Days From Now” and “Embers”) and ’90s IDM derivatives (“Citizen / Nowhere”) piquing palates for pummelling (“Sensation,” “Diminuendo”), peaking in diaphanous ambient-techno fusion (“Endnote”).
https://youtu.be/ESqxk9FXliI
UK-Euro communion: Avian is back after a lie-down with a mini-album from German producer, Desroi. Aligned with Shifted’s fine-tuned label aesthetic, Dwell in Motion is replete with greyscale colorfield, pinprick propulsion, drawing out textures and subtle rhythm shimmies via delay and reverb tweakage, finding a sweet spot between ’floor stare and more cerebral fare. A cavernous low end and machine-tooled beat base, hitched to single warping synth motifs shifting at the sonic periphery, modulated across the course of proceedings ranging from heads-down introspection to full-on hysteria. Like much on the label, it’s possessed of a DIY quality that belies its complexity, while adding to its efficacy. Desroi’s ability to harness the full force of such a limited collection of elements is testament to his production prowess.
Anglo-German ties: UK-born Berlin-based BNJMN has a second set of ‘mesmerizing, atmospheric, boomy Techno cuts’ (Hardwax) on his neonate Tiercel. The producer’s Black Coast proposes murkier deeper waters in an EP rich in texture, melodically deep and rhythmically direct, each track ‘a disorienting trip through dark swamps, eerie subterranean realms and hazy sound spaces.’ All this, and Berlin’s Bright Sounds has just put out his Final Network EP too!
Still in Berlin, Kynant gets TM404 & Echologist together again for Infiltrated, with VRIL in the remix room. Andreas Tilliander and Brendon Moeller’s two boomy 4/4 rollers are backed by the German dub techno maverick’s aetheric broken-beat version of “Adjustments,” which serves to cleanse, or rather differently dirty, the palate before the title track takes us home in a twisted stream of grainy modulations.
Marcelus has been behind some of Tresor’s most intricate productions from debut EP, Super Strength (2012), through to Vibrations (2016). Cedric Bros puts rangey rhythms at the centre—a centre that does not hold, however, as different beat-lines spin out spiraling from the Paris-based manipulator’s machinery, and Magnet takes us further on a 4-part head trip, setting out with the title track’s African (Creole?) inflections, moving through a brooding “Parenthesis,” picking up with “Say It Again” before the cycle comes back round tunneling through “Descent.” Tough euphoria.
Deeper into Germany to revisit Affin, whose Decennium 1.3 sees Giorgio Gigli, Deepbass, and Periskop join Big Herr, Joachim Spieth, for the last in a 12″ series in aid of its glorious 10th. Irradiance reworked, with Polar Inertia, Dino Sabatini, CHPTR and Evigt Mörker tweaking Spieth‘s original Irradiance. Affin’s recent catalog yields even better, if older, goodies, among which Environment from Ukraine’s finest, Svarog.
Horo hosts a first ASC, Astral Projection, following Imagine The Future in integrating the Grey Area sound as habitus. The project yielded a superfluity, four ‘offcuts’ finding their way to Astral Perception: “Arced,” a twisted re-imagining of “Arc” from The Farthest Reaches, “Inner Space,” a peak-y Grey Area-infused ’floor flirter, “Ring System,” and “Event Horizon” in a gliding depth charge style. More signature 3s and 6s go into 4s and 8s on The Difference Engine for Semantica. Knowing if you blink you miss a new ASC, a vigil was instituted, soon ended by arrival of Artefacts Of Rotation, again switching twitchily between 4 and 3-time cycles, somewhere between Return Of The Emissary and the above Astral Projection. Don’t you wonder sometimes… about deep space exploration? Still, if it means more mining of this rich vein of ‘hypnotic drum programming, spiraling atmospheric elements, layers of sublime pads, plus the usual healthy dose of bass,’ keep watching the stars!
Horo meets the most Outer Limits of PoleGroupers, Kwartz, halfway for Body Sedation, as he takes the robust propulsive sound developed over releases for Mord, Warm Up, and his Order & Devotion on a route to suit purist and experimentalist alike; the former can be heard in the title track’s undulant drive and ’floor favourite, “Altered States Of Consciousness,” the latter in the off-kilter static of “Over A Sign Recognition,” the writhing bounce of “Recoil” and “Frame Dislocation.” Good for a listening environment as well as a more exploratory ’floor, forging a distinctive niche in a crowded Tech-scape.
Heading South, to more Mediterranean climes: Spazio Disponibile hits #13, as co-founder Donato Dozzy and long-time chums, Retina.it, take a walk on the wilder side as Le Officine Di Efesto for The Elements; #14 comes with Tropicalia from old pal, Eerie boss, Marco Shuttle, following Systhema (2017) and Flauto Synthetico (2016) in melding crafted beats to haunted space. And Dozzy’s Spazio sidekick, Neel, moonlights with his mates, Antonio Giova and Valerio Gomez de Ayala aka natural/electronic.system, on a textured atmo-tech tip, Sinergia, a return to Morocco’s Tikita following their Sicut Erat EP.
Verona’s Absolute compiles Alter Nos (‘the other We’ – Latin), so called as each side’s tracks are mixed in turn by another, incl. OutpostLive, Lunatik, Invite, Rommek, Concept Of Thrill, Beat Movement, Worg (his “Cauda Pavonis” is best), and Hydrangea. The floral monikered French siren’s Osmosis EP is out on Natch, whose host, Synthek, reveals Hidden Dimension to Auxiliary—more anon. And Natch is Unbroken by Concept Of Thrill’s incursion of broken beat, percussive heat and synth-savvy, as he ‘carries haunting atmospheres while inflaming the dancefloor.’ The Polish shape-shifter never sleeps, with another brace of EPs, Materia, via Italy’s Wats and Canvas on 2529KM, new venture from fellow Pole Piotr Bejnar (N1KT), and Georgian Leon Lolishvili (Boyd Schidt), who say: ‘Every production from him, no matter whether it refers to tribal motility or leaked with futurism, in some way nudges the classic techno boundaries’ (soundcloud).
To Elle and back, as Lorenzo Perrotta, to his Mum, brings his ‘ghost space between tribal, minimalism and techno’ to France’s Accents. Trailing props from previous TOLs—Hypnus, Annulled, Black String, inter alia, Milan’s neo-tribal mnml maven is at it again on ACCENTAPE004 (split with fellow innerspace cadet, Tarek Soltani (ex-Lett)), oscillating neo-ritual perc+808, off-time leads, cerebral subs and barely there textures: from the kaleidoscopic pads and flanging synths spiralling to crescendo on “Falling Apart” to “Breath in the Tunnel,” and its deep rhythmic hyp-gnosis—now with inverted chimes! Then “Opening Light”’s ever shifting percussive axis of kicks and deep diving poly-rhythmics, finished by “Pneumatic,” pivoting round an odd sub-bass, 4×4 base smeared with a timbral miasma, stopping short of full-on shamanics before “Our Love” ends where we started in shady ambience.
Following the Devotion Trilogy that launched his Sublunar and the recent Demur on Henning Baer‘s Manhigh, label co-founder, Sciahri, is back with Metamorphosis. The resumption of his ‘musical journey’ (ouch), trailed as ‘always searching for the perfect equilibrium between spacious, immersive sounds and complex structural dynamics,’ starts with “Heedless,” a heavily syncopated rhythm jostling with occluded atmos exhibiting facility with highly textural techno landscapes. The title track, a deeper dive into oneirism with collapsing rhythms and fluttering step beats, leads to “Ira” with its mazey charge and feral energy before the eponymous “Evaporation.” Mastered at Rome’s Enisslab by, guess who… Neel, who elsewhere, with Retina.it (Ciao, again), exhibit ‘high-level proficiency in sound design’ in assisting Buck’s Substrato in continuing its research into hidden worlds on the Submerged Worlds comp with their “Fumana” and “A Spiral Ladder” on the ‘A’; Southern cedes to Northern electronics for the ‘B’, with Acronym’s “The Permafrost Melt” and ‘dreamy and tripping waves leaning on a solid groove’ in Evigt Mörker’s “Dodligt Sar.”
A bridge from Italy via our Our Friends In The North… Hypnus, where Feral hits with a quick 1-2, Climbing Himalaya: Part I and Part II. The first ‘a cavernous setting flooded by beats and ambience that surely will get most bodies moving. From start to finish we dance upwards along the cliffs, ascending effortlessly like the wind toward the peak.’ Yeah, baby—like a decelerated tribal techno update of crusty psybient trance for Nu-age technauts. Once Hypnus adept, Luigi Tozzi, is alone again on Outis a year on from teaming up with label Capo, Dino Sabatini for Manticora. Ecate is a-swim in signature sound design prowess. “Leto” evolves percussively around a hefty kick, resonant strings and chiming incursions, ending eerie. “Esperede” rolls out panning drums, alien melody and haunting drone for a pleasingly disorienting elsewhereness.
Still Up North, Anthony Linell‘s latest Northern Electronics outing’s Angst-y title is no arch whimsy, Alienation from Self being a stern set for no-frills thrill-seekers, albeit a tad on the austere side even for confirmed Abdulla Rashim mnmlists. A more generous alternative to machine-tooled claustrophobia comes from kinsman, Evigt Mörker, whose first NE EP, Total makt, offers plenty to be charmed by in its percussive meanders, outfolding into routes both bumpy and aqueous, funneling you into appealingly ambiguous terrain. TOL-faves, offworldcolonies ltd., bring together two of their best—Yerevan’s finest, Cloistral, and Dals härad’s best in show, Drottning Omma, who collude for an arresting mix of technoid ambientesque: Nya katedraler is precision-tooled deep, dark, dystopian, and Zeitgeist-y in the best sense. There’s also Kuf with Stål & rost. More Nordism on Sliding Windows from Karl Bult, who dives into a world of ambient and deep techno incl. a nice collab between Jana Sleep, Korridor and Fjäder, owner of host label, Nordanvind.
https://youtu.be/IfuzWkze5lg
Further findings from Iberia, Lisbon’s Sombra has a fourth release for a fourth anniversary, 4 ANOS, an oneiric techno-topia showcasing the imprint’s eponymous atmospheric vision, compiling 12 artists from zeroes to heroes, incl. label co-founders, Peterr and Shcuro, Chimess, Prec, VIL, Larix, Enkö, Damaskin, Madalba, Cindy, Paul Mac (yeah, him), and, UK’s best in show, Positive Centre; who, lest you missed it, launched his In Silent Series, convening other TOL-types, Sigha, SNTS, and Dadub, for four deep textural excursions, In Silent Series – Various Artists [ISS003]. More PC: Positive Centre Remixes Collection, a perfect exhibition of his remix prowess from the last few years.
Four techno trick-turners of late luminarity feature on The Bridges I Burn Remixes from Ownlife owner, Leiras, with Svreca: Reeko‘s prowess in texturizing timbral play and rhythm tricks shows first, with UK BleeDer, Volte-Face, and NY vet Shawn O’Sullivan’s 400PPM the filling; the former finding a sound-space balance in an off-kilter take on “Tilling Ceramics,” while the latter melts modular synthesis with the authors’ atmos; best last, Acronym delivers an intense spiralling tribal twist on the original.
Nørbak goes Dutch for a debut on Dynamic Reflection with the murky Marah. The sometime Illegal Alien sets off with “Marah 1” on a dense filtered sweep with an esoteric undercurrent anchored by spaced out beats. “Marah 2” picks up the pace for a more ‘floor fuelled workout resounding to sweeping filters and interstitial pinprick bleeps. Remixes come from Farceb, who turns “Marah 1” into a heavy kick-driven hypno-tunneler, and Moddullar, whose take on “Marah 2” is more lissom, smearing atmospheric textural tweakage over a deep breakbeat base. Back some, the label’s Transient Response EP featured Hertz Collision, authors of the nifty Nowhere EP, with the raw drums and insistent rough-house riffage of “Loaded,” Reaktivate head, A Thousand Details, picking up part of the rest of the bill, with the heads-down pump of “Apollo 12,” and US producer, Uun, opting for a more atmo-soaked mien, delving into Detroit for “Chrysalis,” and Stratum re-focusing with the clicking percussion and gnarly bass of “A Fraction of Time.”
Way out East, Seoul’s Oslated is a new find, though what led here is already its fifth LP. Jong-min Lee (aka Oslon) started the label with a podcast series linked to Constant Value, the city’s dark insular warehouse techno party premiere venue, vurt. Eyvind Blix‘s Västberga Allé is named after a street in a Stockholm industrial area, once home to epic raves, whose daytime monotone manufacturing pulse cedes to night-time atmos. Blix’s stock-in-trade is muscular, off-kilter beats, droning leads, crushing kicks and bass rumble, bursts of sonic detail swirled in reverb. “Karusellplan” is remixed by Vâyu into a rich ambient techno soundscape more for headphone high than basement low; Saphileaum’s “1st Sky” mix maintains a similar sort of spatial atmos, albeit more beat-focused; vurt resident Unjin‘s remix of “Hemlängtan” hitches a stiff kick and percussion base to glowing pads and engine-room ambience, finishing with another vurt-ian, Djilogue’s rejig of “Drivhjulsvägen.”
Artist notes—focusing on individuals with distinguishing/uniting acts: Adoptive Berliner, Refracted, ex-Semantica, PoleGroup, Silent Season and his own Mind Express, has the Meta EP out on Sciahri and Dagdrom‘s Sublunar; a mix of ear-piquing tunnel-trips from “Vórtice”’s tribal swarm to “Meridian”’s suspension and endless pulse. He and Mod21 (IT) are the chosen ones of Manent for remixes on Assioma, his debut on the new Unità Psicofisica imprint. The Italian’s Chapter 1 is retooled by the Spaniard, as well as Plant43, Neel and Marco Shuttle on Chapter 1 X, and “The Drums”—not so much drummy as a lattice-work of droney synthlines—is Prime cut of a V.A. EP from Aine’s back catalog reclaimed to launch parent PoleGroup’s mini-comp series (also including Ribé’s “Atop,” Oisel’s “Erosione,” and Ruptur3’s Schaffel-ing “28064212.”).
US-Russia Talks: Dub Techno’s most Out There out there, Submersion, who had Abrade reissued by now defunct diametric. in 2016 and self-released Circular early this year, is evidently getting busier, with his latest, Suffused, out on, even busier, Mr. Cloudy’s Space of Variants, ‘the place, where the intent is to be conscious so much, that reality is unreal and vice versa’ (bandcamp). The fabric of the Ohio-based producer’s sound stage is absorbingly laden with an FX-heavy haze, with drawn out chordal drones and field recordings slathered in a thick compression glaze, riven with a remote kick pulse plumbing its depths.
Track notes—focusing on individual tracks distinguishing otherwise unnoted sets: “Macaw” from Graphite (ARTS) by Kiev’s Yan Cook, who has plenty of previous with TOL-friendly Planet Rhythm, where we find Phara’s nifty title track from Mind Inside, and Presion’s mesmeric “Unit” from Dominant. Wata Igarashi’s back on Berlin’s Midgar with a nifty 1-2 of Niskala and Sekala, “Moonlight” being a stand-out; as is “Thermal Velocity” from Reggy Van Oers’ Kontrafaktum EP, Transcranial, and “Train to Helsinki” from the pulsing atmo-drenched Ten, eponymously released by Russia’s Unbalance. Relic Radiation’s La Notte di Architetto convenes Antonio Vázquez, Confluence, and Kanthor for the Vague EP, the St Petersburg label tsar’s “Perception” being most striking. Deepbass’s second LP, Contact With The Machine (Informa), a cumulative set that peaks with “Forgotten.” Emergent Italian, Drafted, has clearly been honing his production prowess, judging by the pulsating “Helyion” from his Drive Textures (Soma) EP. And Vinz Exe’s Gamma Velorum EP on Mexico’s ANAOH, run by Fixon and Dig-It, includes the conspicuous “Pulsar Storm.” Finally, Motionen‘s “A Swirl of Colors In Fractal Visions” from VA set, Universa Natura Vol III, on conspicuous in Colombia Northallsen.
Selections from this Outer Limits emission are in the soundcloud set below and latest albient mix, Dalliance #22.
