Titonton Duvanté has nearly two decades of experience behind the synthesizers. On imprints like Dan Curtain’s Metamorphic Recordings and Loop Sounds Duvanté has sculpted rich and soulful pieces of Techno. For aDepth, under his Titonton moniker, Provocative is the offering.
aDepth Audio have been quiet since their last release, the excellent 2LP from Crystal Maze. Finally the Dutch label returns the pressing plant, this time arriving home with a new addition to the family. Titonton Duvanté has nearly two decades of experience behind the synthesizers. On imprints like Dan Curtain’s Metamorphic Recordings and Loop Sounds Duvanté has sculpted rich and soulful pieces of Techno. For aDepth, under his Titonton moniker, Provocative is the offering.
Clean chords introduce the title piece. Beats crunch and clap as intricate rhythm arrangements are built. It is these patterns that hold Titonton’s heady melodies. Bars spiral, arcs of smooth synth curved over bleep nostalgia for an august opener. “Foment (Dub no vox/no stringz)” follows. Steady, clever beats are the mould for a coursing and cascading bass, a bass that grows in confidence as it runs up arpeggios. Duvanté has an incredible ear for development. Nothing is overly cluttered. Sounds support one another to produce a special and utterly absorbing audio experience. The flip is for the remixers. Up first are the Italian twosome of Hinode. The Mediterranean men take on the original, bolstering with clashing cymbals and a worming Acid line. Toms descend as snares roll and cold harmonies whirr. The track borders that line between dancefloor and armchair depth. Next come Indigo Area label bosses Maarten Mittendorff and Jasper Wolff for their “Re-Construct.” 4/4 cut bass introduces the piece, wisps of beat chugging the rework into being. The partnership take those familiar patterns and drape a sublime melody over the lot. Cymbals rise and fall, that ever present bass line allowing different arrangements to melt into those lush bars.
I must admit that I hadn’t actually heard much from Titonton Duvanté before Provocative, having more in my collection from his sometime collaborator John Tejada. In one way I’m glad as now I have a new name to hunt down. From an unknown to someone I’ll be actively seeking out, can’t give a better compliment than that. Well done aDepth.
Provocative is available on aDepth Audio.
