HUERCO S Vinyl & CDs

Review: A pivotal album in ensuring the continued popularity of experimental techno for fresh-eared fans, Huerco S.' Colonial Patterns was first released in 2013. It was his (Brian Leeds') debut album, following hot on the heels of his first three our four EPs. Though, while Leeds by then was no stranger to the stock format of releasing EPs as a techno artist, this is one of many albums we can cite to disprove notions of techno being somehow inherently not an album-worthy genre. Indeed, the sonic content of Colonial Patterns' is somehow consistently smothered, dub-pulsatory, lo-fi, rude, angelic, demonic, shifting, naturalistic, and synthetic - all at the same time. Meanwhile, the sinister, disfigured visage and title both suggest its occupation of an elusive but critical historic ideaspace. Now reissued via its original label Software, we can confirm its renewed status as a modern classic.

Review: Brian Leeds is the US outsider behind the well known Huerco S project, and also behind other alases like Royal Crown of Sweden, Pendant, and Loidis. One Day is a new album from that last moniker on the revered Incienso label and it taps into minimal, dub and tech in stylish fashion. These often dusty and perfectly undercooked beats have heady pads and locked in grooves that travel to the cosmos on 'Wait & See', subterranean worlds on 'Wait & See' and to breezy open air dances on 'Sugar Shot'. It's a smooth and seductive work.