DEEPCHORD Vinyl & CDs

Review: After a slew of teasers out earlier this year, Deepchord (Rod Modell) eases ever deeper into his overarching chordal masterscape, continuing the 'Functional' theme expressed in his music in recent years. Functional Designs is first full-length LP from the producer in five years, and the teaser 'Strangers' promises more musical development than ever before heard from the enigmatic Detroit producer. It might be best describable as 'progressive dub techno'; airier and more breathable than his early, more subdued works, we're thoroughly impressed by the movement from percussive resonances ('Strangers') to fully ambient finites ('Drassanes').

Review: Functional Designs is the newest album from Detroit-based Deepchord, who has long been a mainstay of Scottish techno label Soma. It is full of late-night sounds and the artist's signature designs and is a fine return to the label after five years since his last album. Each track pays out like a nighttime walk through his urban local with field recordings, holographic synth tones, cosmic sounds and the hiss of electric wires all colouring the grooves. This rich, lush techno with an electroacoustic aesthetic that makes it glisten a bit brighter. Add in heavy bass and beats and you have a modern classic.

Review: A welcome return from Deepchord, who shows the newset of dub techno players how, exactly, it is done. After 5 years, he returns to Soma Records with 'Functional Extraits 1' here, charting shuffly and subtle trips through echoic hallways ('Mapping') and rain-pattered biomech rainforests ('Shale'), and scanning the post-Earth wasteland for any semblance of a real reggae chord. With the final track almost entirely consisting of texture and bass, we can happily declare this to be next-level dub techno.

Review: Since Deepchord helped launch Astral Industries with the sublime "Lanterns" double-album in 2014, the London label has gone on to become a reliable source of dreamy ambient techno and blissful, otherworldly ambience (for proof, check out the releases from Waveform Transmission, the Chi Factory and Heavenly Music Corporation). Predictably, Deepchord's return to the imprint is every bit as wonderful as you'd expect. While naturally underpinned by restless dub techno rhythms and wrapped in Rod Modell's usual densely layered aural textures, the two tracks that make up Immersions are far wavier and more ambient-focused than much of the Detroit producer's work. And, yes, both tracks are exceedingly immersive. You shouldn't need a second invitation to dive right in.

Review: Prolific dub techno producer Rod Modell has spent much of the last year collaborating with long-term studio buddy Stephen Hitchell under the Echospace alias. Even so, he's still somehow found time to ready another solo album for regular home Soma (his fifth in total for the esteemed Glasgow-based techno label). While the CD version is presented as one continuous audio journey, this double-vinyl edition contains each track in its entirety. There are few surprises, but plenty of highlights: after all, nobody does this kind of hypnotic, meditative, ambient-influenced dub techno quite as well as Modell.

Review: Few producers do the dub techno sound better than Rod Modell and on this second Atmospherica instalment, he shows why he is so revered. "Exploring The North" is dense and subdued, the hisses and crackles ebbing and flowing fluidly over a powerful sub-bass. "Pinewood Lodge" is more atmospheric and floaty, its chords flitting about like fireflies over a camp fire on the first night of autumn. Rounding out the release is "Shot Point". Immersive, hypnotic and ghostly, it washes through the speakers like waves crashing on a deserted beach at midnight. This is electronic music that is designed to get lost in.

Review: There is little to say about Rod Modell's Deepchord project apart from the fact that it has been one of the most consistent techno projects of the last ten to fifteen years. The man has done it all and seen it all, landing on labels such as Modern Love, echospace, his own Deepchord, of course, and even Scotland's long-running Soma. He's back on the latter with three aptly mental slices of dub techno, with "Exploring The North" dominating the A-side with a fast yet subtle bass drum surrounded by an ocean of masterful sonics that have been transformed thanks to the mounds of effects laid upon them. "Pinewood Lodge" is a similar sort of beast, and it reminds us of an early-morning rave-up on some far-away planet, while "Shot Point" is for the real dub enthusiasts, a simple sea of delayed harmonies woven together by sounds of the ocean.

Review: Given his prolific nature, fresh material from Rod Modell under the Deepchord guise is not news. There is, though, something rather special and extra-ordinary about Ultraviolet Music, an expansive, double-disc full length for Soma, which the Detroit-based producer has described as "hallucinogenic". Taking dub techno as his blueprint, Modell delivers an impressive collection of hypnotic, out-there moments that also take influence from ambient, Detroit techno, deep house, and the kind of fuzzy, beguiling sonic textures guaranteed to flip your lid. While many of Modell's albums feature epic, 20-minute plus workouts, here he quickly shuffles between shorter moments whilst retaining a deliciously dubby dancefloor pulse.

Review: The ever-busy Rod Modell has a new album due on Soma later this month. Ahead of that set - his fourth for Slam's long-running label - he's decided to put out this taster 12". Curiously, though Atmospherica Volume 1 doesn't contain any tracks from that album, instead serving up three new treats. 12-minute A-side "Fargo" is undoubtedly the star attraction, offering a chunkier-than-usual take on his weed-enhanced dub techno grooves, paranoid textures and loopy electronics. "CMOS Therapy" is even more up-tempo in feel, with urgent rhythms, surging motifs and notably fizzing cymbals. Finally, "Night Song" sees Modell trek deep into the jungle for inspiration, returning with a muddy chunk of dub techno humidity.

Review: In 2005, DeepChord inaugurated Mike Huckaby's legendary S Y N T H label with two 12"s called Electromagnetic Dowsing and Electromagnetic Dowsing (The Final Step). The label has always been a deep house meets dub techno enigma with much of its limited catalogue becoming something of unspoken folklore, and Rod Modell now adds to the legend by releasing Electro Magnetic Dowsing: The Lost D Side, what could well be the final instalment of his Electromagnetic Dowsing series, on his own label Echospace. This fourth production sees DeepChord in full flight with blankets of textures hugging a rock solid four-four beat petted by subtle keys and echoing percussion. More quality from DeepChord once again.

Review: Even by dub techno standards, Rob Modell seems to be unfeasibly productive. There's been a veritable deluge of Deepchord-related releases this year - all up to the Detroit-based producer's impeccable standards, of course - with the first Luxury 12" on Soma arguably standing out. This follow-up is predictably strong, with Modell expertly crafting two starry, melodic and admirably hypnotic compositions. Choose between the twinkling melodies, rolling chords and starlight grooves of "Luxury 3" and the bolder, more sci-fi tinged "Luxury 4", whose undulating percussion, fluid chords and dub-style live mixing guarantee eyes-wide-shut thrills.

Review: One of the best compliments you can pay a minimal techno producer is that they have an ability to make a lot with few elements. While Deepchord's layered, textured sound could be described as maximal techno, on this release for Soma, its simplicity is its strength. In reality, not much happens over the course of the ten-minute plus "Luxury 1", yet its dubby beats, sub-aquatic chords and occasional diversions into dreamy reveries is over before the listener realises it. "Luxury 2" is more dance floor-friendly, but despite this, the break beats are gentle and unassuming and the melodies subtle yet insidious. It makes for a straightforward but seductive combination.

Review: Since pitching up on Soma back in 2011, Rod Modell's Deepchord work has slowly shifted focus, moving from dub-soaked techno hypnotism to experimental ambience via cinematic electronica. At the same time, the Detroit producer has devoted more energy to audiovisual projects, delivering live shows that mix musical drones, pops and crackles with similarly distorted, hallucinogenic visuals. 20 Electrostatic Soundfields, his third full-length for Soma, is seemingly a culmination of this trend. Presented as both an audio CD and DVD - with accompanying visuals - it consists entirely of atmospheric ambience built around drones, heady chords and manipulated white noise. Adventurous and intoxicating, it's one of his deepest sets to date.

Review: Later this month, Rod 'the God' Modell will grace Soma with a new Deepchord album in the shape of
20 Electrostatic Soundfields - his third for the Glaswegian label and ninth overall! If you've been following Modell's musical development over these albums you'll understand Deepchord material has become more experimental and conceptual. On the basis of this 12" teaser, the forthcoming album will fit snugly in with this evolution. Apparently sourced from the video soundtrack and installation music Modell accrued between 2008 and 2012, this picture disc contains meditative album track "De Wallen" and two equally absorbing B Sides not featured on 20 Electrostatic Soundfields. Immersive listening at it's finest!

Review: For Detroit techno there is Juan Atkins and Carl Craig, for dub techno there is Basic Channel and Rod Modell aka DeepChord. The Echospace label remasters a selection of tracks from a blitz of EPs DeepChord released in 2001. It's a rare opportunity to bask once more in the rhythmically-weighted and dissolvent ambience of Rod Modell and Mike Schommer early releases. All tracks featured on the triple marbled vinyl package either traverse well below the realms of charted sub-sonics or ethereally waver high above the clouds, secluded from dynamic tension, exploring subtle variations in pitched based harmonics instead. A must have for the dub techno lover.

Review: Written and produced by Rod Modell and Mike Schommer in Detroit for their incredible performance at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Now re-mastered and transferred from reel to reel tape recordings by Rod Modell.

Review: As you might think, Deepchord are thoroughly well placed for soundtrack work, able to fully indulge their dubbed out tendencies without concerns for the dancefloor. That said, throughout the Silent World soundtrack there are still 4/4 pulses to be found, chugging away underneath the languid tones of "Orbiting" or more prominently on the techno fug of "Ghost Theory". By and large though, this is Echochord in their prime, bathing in a torrent of reverb while winsome notes from forgotten sources cry harmoniously over each other, with only static for company. If you're not a fan of the most beguiling hypnagogic dub techno, turn away now.

Review: Long-serving producer Fluxion has decided to re-launch his Vibrant Music imprint, a label specializing in dub techno and ambient explorations that previously ceased operations in 2005. Fittingly, he's saved something special for the relaunch 12": a collaboration with Detroit dub techno don Rod "Deepchord" Modell as Transformations. The two-part "Accumulate" draws on the best of both producers' styles, delivering melodious, warm, hypnotic and spacey techno whose dub influences bubble away in the background without ever taking over. Rodell's ability to subtly tweak and transform dubbed-out melodic loops and hazy sonic textures is explored in greater detail on side B's "Part 2" version, which also boasts a heavier bassline and sturdier, kick-drum-driven percussion.

Review: Hot on the heels of their first collaborative 12" for Vibrant Music - the fine Accumulate Parts I & II - dub techno stalwarts DeepChord (Aka Rod Modell) and Fluxion (Konstantinos Soublis) join forces for a second salvo. The two-part "Bona Fide" is a typically evocative and hazy affair, offering an attractive balance between Modell's audio soup style sound design and the gently unfurling rhythms that have always been a hallmark of Soublis's productions. Both interpretations utilize a range of melodic elements - think twinkling, mixed-down pianos, fuzzy electric piano bass, dreamy chords, and so on - with the slightly livelier "Part 2" also making use of some exotic percussive flourishes. Naturally, both passes are warm, undulating and immaculately produced.

Review: One of the leading dub related labels to emerge in recent years, Avantroots project of taking dub as a genre to its furthest and freshest perspectives, while still showing the utmost respect for the history and the figures inside it, continues with this eye-opening contribution, 'Linval Thompson Meets Avantroots'. Featuring tracks from the likes of Deepchord, Pulshar, Deepnaut, and Braulio Lam, this latest project (as the name suggests) was led by the dub legend himself, Linval Thompson, who's list of credits and those he's influenced is pages and pages in length. 'World Crisis' is Thompson's key message, running like a refrain, re-emerging throughout the EP and finding new shapes with each artist's fresh approach. Deepchord's iteration, unsurprisingly, is the deepest of the collection, encircling and hypnotic it orbits Thompson's echoed vocals to perfection. Pulshar's take offers greater lyrical clarity, keeping the surrounding production minimal and delectably slow-paced, giving room for each element to breathe. Deepnaut's version is brighter, bubbling with the plucked samples of spaced-out electric guitar and expanding synth pads. Braulio Lam's offering, the final track on the release, is a more experimental, broken groover - chopping and shifting the vocals in a collage effect, refracting Thompson's message in order for it to be seen in a new light. A fantastic release to sink into - fully immersive and richly detailed.

Review: Given the hushed tones with which ambient and dub techno fans speak about Yagya's 2006 album Will I Dream During The Process, Japan's Subwax label is taking a risk messing with such a classic. To their credit, they've enlisted a sympathetic producer - namely Detroit-based DeepChord man Rod Modell - to provide the obligatory "redesigns". Happily, Modell does a fine job balancing the shuffling rhythms, yearning melodies and dreamy textures of Yagya's original material with his own dub-powered grooves, stargazing electronics and Motor City-influenced melancholy. Ultimately, it's a blend of styles that makes for wonderful results, from the becalmed melodies and drifting chords of "DeepChord Redesigns 4", to the shimmering ambience of "DeepChord Redessigns 6" and rolling dancefloor shuffle of "DeepChord Redesigns 7".