Moritz Von Oswald Trio – Restructure 2 review

A taster for the trio’s forthcoming third album, Horizontal Structure, this single sees Von Oswald and collaborators Max Loderbauer and Sasu Ripatti (aka Vladislav Delay) further explore the notion of merging dub techno with other, previously unconnected styles. “Restructure 2” is a swirling, atmospheric piece, its languid, low-tempo groove accompanied by some tastefully spacey guitar playing and mellow jazzy vibes. It sounds like what would happen if late-stage Velvet Underground were to happen upon Charlie Parker in a wormhole and decide to decamp to modern-day Berlin to do cover versions of Burial Mix. It’s understated, studied and about as far removed from Maurizio’s “Ploy” as one can get, but yet it still retains much of the same cavernous production sound.

The choice of remixer, Mala, is also surprising as it eschews Von Oswald’s techno habitat in favour of dubstep. That said, the Digital Mystikz producer has a credible string of releases for DMZ, Tectonic and Soul Jazz, and like the Basic Channel producer, fully understands the power of the bass. There is also some subtle referencing to the time that Van Oswald first rose to prominence through the use of ‘Intelligent Techno’-era melodies and the ambient outro, but Mala’s remix is all about the tumbling drums and tribal, swinging rhythms.

Richard Brophy