Techno that bares all. It’s powerful and impassioned, adamant and aggressive, this is machine music that demands to be heard.
Here in Europe we’re getting a decent bombarding of Greek politics. Syriza and their attempt to push back the forces of the Troika and achieve some sort of financial agreement. It appears that a compromise, of sorts, has been accomplished but time will tell if it is the right one. But beyond the rhetoric, the posturing and the jockeying for position, beyond the hardship and financial wrangling there is always electronic music.
Trenton Chase (yup, after the serial killer), aka Demitri Kokkinakos, appeared last year on June’s self titled label. This London based Baltimore born Greek artist debuted with The Vampire of Sacramento. I can give the EP no more praise than by saying it’s never been far from my turntables since the day it arrived. Chase, aka, is following in his own footsteps, returning to wax with a four track helping of red blooded techno.
Much of the tools Kokkinakos employed on his first outing are here on the second: The Manor Conspiracy. 4/4 rhythms hammer the entire EP. Melodies are dark, brought to the point of acrid distortion and then beyond. I mentioned labels like UR and Plus 8 last time I spoke about this analogue upstart, and I’m back to them again. Detroit drips from speaker cones, but perhaps on this latest more from a Jeff Mills location with a touch of House thrown in. But don’t get me wrong, this is not pastiche; this is own brand, individual electronics. 303 boils bubble and burst. Percussion pounds out angry patterns, “Axis I” and “Axis II” beating lumps out of would-be floors. There is no relieve on this EP. “Haloperidol Decanoate” maintains the ferocity. Venomous Acid seeps through crunching percussion, rhythm and bass punishing amplifiers. Respite in the finale? Think again. Bang and boom. Rawness has salt poured on it. “Code Green MF” thumps with aggression filled samples only adding to the fierceness.
I wrote when June released Human Target that I felt that he wasn’t getting the press attention his music deserved. Move on six months and Fronas is enjoying live dates across Europe and gaining praise. I think Trenton Chase might be the next Greek export that garners such a response. This is techno that bares all. It’s powerful and impassioned, adamant and aggressive, this is machine music that demands to be heard. Europe’s economic crisis hasn’t been expressed with electronics, or it has been quietly. Disenfranchised Detroit has been done, and then some. This is the European-American economic emigrant saying how it is, and loudly. Real fists in the air material, instead of supposed fists on polished table tops in Germany.
The Manor Conspiracy is available on June.
