Techno Recommendations July 2012

Review: As I Look To The Sky From The Surface Of The Water is the much awaited second album from GRIT, aka London producer Gary Brackley and it's found a perfect home on Meanwhile. The label is well placed to be an outlet for GRIT's explorations deep into the realm of deep techno, thanks to it's standing within the techno community and this album stands tall alongside contributions from the likes of Murmur, Sven Weismann, Bvdub and Conforce. Opening with the expansive title track, GRIT sets the tone for what to expect with the ripple of syncopation shifting in and out of focus amidst the viscous layers of foggified luminescent ambient texture. Across the subsequent five tracks this tone is retained throughout as Brackley playfully explores the inventive sparks that arise when rhythm rubs with texture, with the smudged out subaqueous "Safer Retreat" a real highlight.

Review: It would be hard to tag Blawan's debut on Frozen Border affiliates Black Sun as anything other than four exercises in resolutely grubby, dark and industrial techno, so leave all your "post-whatever" classifications at the door. Lead track "Scarborough" demonstrates Blawan's noirish prowess for uncovering unnerving vocal samples and using the duration of the production to further bury this looped up element beneath the saturated crud of noise built up around the hollow scraping of kick drums that drives the track forth - see his recent YouTube burner "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage" for further compelling evidence. It sets the slightly sinister tone for what follows with "Breathe Them Knees In" literally growling into life and scheming to blow the head off anyone not prepared for the huge waves of viscous pressure at its core. "Grafter Gets A Home" differs in that the malevolent vocal remains above the parapet of dystopian noise that bubbles underneath throughout its progression, while "6 To 6 Lick" sees Blawan let loose on the drums in schizophrenic fashion.

Review: The ever impressive Avian imprint - impeccably curated by Shifted - comes good again with another essential release form the equally shadowy MPIA3. Although their name might sound like an obscure audio format, there's no loss of audio fidelity here - "WTTP" is a barebones slice of overdriven 303 driven acid techno, whose delicate flecks wrap around a serious kickdrum and little else. The theme continues on the flip with "Casual Welding", a production whose searing analogue noises sound welded to a highly sprung kick. In a current techno climate full of slate gray minimalism, it's refreshing to hear something go for it tooth and nail - highly recommended.

Review: ** FLOORPLAN REPRESS ** It's fair to say that this was one of the best Robert Hood moments in a while! Just two tracks but boy do they hit hard - "Altered Ego" is more brakey than the usual Hood bombs but he's kept the inimitable chords, all wailing and weaving their way through the beat. The real heat is on the flip however, where the nostalgic, rave-infused piano keys of "Confess" make for a certified classic! Is it Hood who influenced Shed on this sort of beat or the other way around? Who cares, it's bloody amazing!

Review: Releasing Obsessed on a label other than Sandwell District must have felt strange to Function. However, like "Ember", the US producer's final outing for the now defunct imprint, "Obsessed" is an understated affair. Closer to early Speedy J and Warp's Intelligent Techno series than the austere rhythms of Sandwell, its dreamy synths unravel to reveal a cacophony of bleeps and a lithe rhythm that never quite makes it onto the dance floor. Substance's version starts in a similar vein, but the Berlin producer maintains a wiry, minimal rhythm throughout, which acts as the basis for a gradual shift into grinding metallic riffs. Scuba's SCB edit is the most dance floor friendly track, the snappy, hissing percussion and stacatto, clattering drums underpinning an effective, building filter.

Review: In the continued mining of house and techno treasures for modern reappraisal, 100% Pure turn back to one of their biggest critical successes, Steve Rachmad's classic The Secret Life of Machines. 17 years on, the sound remains vitally relevant in these times of retro-fetishism. Essentially this is pristinely realised techno in its original form; melodic and adventurous, romantic and tough in the same bar. Considering he was operating at an early stage well outside the core of early techno activity, it's remarkable what Rachmad was able to achieve. This easily cuts it with any of the seminal albums to have come from Detroit in that golden era.

Review: While not as on-radar as the likes of Delsin and Clone, Field has been serving as a great testing ground for the most interesting frontiers of Dutch techno for a good few years. The various artists series of 12"s that they are working through at the moment yields excellent results once again, with Duplex bringing some tense slow-motion atmosphere on his raw jacker of a track, which Conforce cools down in fine remix form. Eshu takes things deeper still with his minimal workout, leaving it to Counterpart to give everyone the fear with his loopy and sinister "Implements".

Review: Sect's third and final sampler for the It's All For You compilation ends on a bittersweet note, seeing the last release from Sect favourite Grovskopa, who has decided to retire following the closest of near death experiences. The A-Side features Lag's remix of his Sect classic "Atopic", reworking the lurching bass and broken-beat rhythms of the original into a hypnotic number with a fractured synth melody. The B-Side sees "2:69", a brittle yet powerful track with churning bass which recalls Drexciya's classically hard edged approach, combined with hazy orchestral sweeps - a fitting swansong for a great producer.

Review: And so it continues. Cosmin 'TRG' Nicolae's evolution as an artist has at times seemed like a condensed history of electronic music in reverse. From jungle, bass and break beat to house, electro and techno and now what sounds like his take on Detroit techno, the Romanian could never be accused of standing still. This refusal to succumb to inertia would mean little if every stylistic shift heralded little more than a nod to ingrained narratives and approaches. However, the real beauty of Cosmin's music is that each realignment brings with it a wealth of idiosyncrasies, be it a familiar vocal snippet on his house releases for Rush Hour or now this unusual interpretation of deeper techno. The title track's intro doesn't suggest that Cosmin has plans to worship at the altar of Derrick May or Carl Craig, as it starts with the chime of bells and the whirr of abstract percussion. Suddenly however, a dreamy chord sequence floats in, but it doesn't sound typical thanks to the slightly off beats - a throwback to his recent past- and the rolling snares that have more in common with hard mid-90s German techno and some excellent pitch bent hats. "Sommer" features a similar chord sequence, but Cosmin is quick to double it up, couple it with crashing snares and a delay that gives the arrangement a dynamism that is the common characteristic in his artistically schizophrenic body of work.

Review: Jack Dunning's audacious three part project reaches number 2, and while the first instalment may have been inspired by drum & bass (in spirit if not necessarily in sound), it seems as though this pair of tracks are more concerned with the aesthetic of early Detroit techno. The near industrial thud of "Caslon" utilises a simple monophonic sequence that slowly builds into a storm of raw square waves. "Breathe" meanwhile opts for a deeper approach which is one of the producer's most sedate works to date, utilising a swung rhythm that is as far from his traditional jackhammer approach as you could imagine, with a gentle bass accented with a Vangelis-like sci-fi soundscape. Highly recommended.

Review: Wild Oats come through with the full debut from Detroit native Manuel Gonzales, no stranger to the label having collaborated with boss Kyle Hall under the NSNT PRJCT moniker. Gonzales has also toured as part of the live Underground Resistance ensemble so this is a producer with pedigree, this two track 12" will be a challenge to some ears however. Lead track "Harmnear" is heavily experimental in tone, so cavernous in execution you couldn't call it ocean deep as there's not an ocean with sufficient depth. The various strands of the production are treated with all manner of unsteady echo and delay, as the bristling percussive groove is intermittently disturbed by glowering slipstreams of laser driven sonics. Complementing this "Konnekt" doesn't even approach beat dynamics, the track remaining in stasis as a near blinding synth manipulation undulates with power atop a minimalist bed of sound. It's a bold move for Wild Oats to release a record like this, but at a time when so many seem happy to copy what's come before we need some boundary pushers.

Review: Sean Hernandez's Chicago Skyway project has been a constant source of sturdy, old-skool jackers since he first crept on the scene, and Eargasmic represents the label that has supported his music the most. Having initially issued Wreckage as a CD-r release two years ago, the label is finally returning to place the eight tracks on the medium they belong on. There's often a wilful abrasion to Hernandez's productions, as in the caustic synth line that dominates "Sound One" while gentle pads try in vain to calm the vibe down, but then he just as easily turns to the wistful piano tones of a track like "Joaquin Look At The Stars".

Review: Pulling together the unreleased gems from Nick Hoppner's entry into the burgeoning Panorama Bar CD series, this 12" comes brimming with quality that matches functionality with imagination. Things start off decidedly funky with The Mole laying down a discoid bassline and maintaining his groove longer than he might normally do. Dexter comes correct with a brooding slice of tech-house that plays off a growling bassline and quirky dabs of synth, while Matthew Styles lets dubby feedback reign supreme on the melodic part of "Liquid Sky". Jon McMillon rounds proceedings off in fine style with the subdued slow-mo of "T-Station".

Review: On the second 12" of Token's Phase remix project Planetary Assault Systems puts his abrasive stamp on the source material, with juddering synthwork poking out of the cracks, while CTRLS takes a dustier approach, taking the original's four to the floor approach and putting a bit of broken beat swagger into it - but one that's refreshingly off the grid.