Skip to main content

A bunch of electronic EPs

In the various worlds of the different kinds of Techno, EPs are common. 2-4 track mini-albums that the artist felt was a compelete set for whatever unknown reason. It's hard to write a complete review of these small packs of music, but I feel several of them are worthy of attention. So I'll list several here with brief comments about why I think they're good. They're in reverse alphabetical order; no ranking is intended.


Yernesto - In Too Deep (Dub Techno)
https://coldtearrecords.bandcamp.com/album/yernesto-in-too-deep

Dub Techno rides a line between Techno and Dub, and there's a certain sweet spot that I really like. I prefer no vocal samples, and few to no Roland 909 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEFEivTgNVI) samples. The 909 has been ubiquitous in popular music since its introduction in 1983, and I'm just tired of hearing those sounds over and over.

Yernesto's release "In Too Deep" hits all the right buttons for me to like it. Deep grooves, solid soundstaging and subtle effects work. I highly recommend this, and look forward to more releases from him.


Vertical Amigo - Ridge (Dub Techno)
https://coldtearrecords.bandcamp.com/album/vertical-amigo-ridge

"Ridge" is a quite varied collection of tracks. Plateau has a live-sounding drum loop that is just awesome, and Peak is a great subtle closer.


Submersion - Deluge (Dub Techno)
http://audio.submersion.info/album/deluge

Submersion has a very noisy take on the genre with tons of rain samples mixed into his work. Deep thudding bass drums with grimy-sounding synths amid all the rain give this collection a very dark and foreboding atmosphere.


Sasha - Xpander (Progressive Trance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAkYOME9lB8&list=PLMGxtELrE1hukmcHodSj0K7-iz6xRaU-b
(Sorry, there's no official listenable version of this)

Ordinarily, Sasha does heavy remixing of other artists' works, most notably with the Involver series. I'm not really into the whole remix scene, so I prefer his solo work. He does work with other artists on these, but it's his name on the product. The 4 tracks of Xpander (ignoring the 4-minute edit of the title track) are all different, and are all epic journeys in the style of Progressive Trance. Xpander is one of the best tracks in my entire collection; I highly recommend it. Oh yeah: spot the Autechre sample in Baja.


Plaster - Nemesis (Minimal Techno... I think. Hard to catagorize this one)
https://soundcloud.com/plaster/nemesis-ep (just samples)

Plaster at the time of this release consisted of two artists; one has since left, and both continue to release music. One as Plaster, and one as Agan. This EP is a collection of disparate tracks that all have a brooding mood. I'd like to point out Alight To Earth, track 2, as the best one of the set.


Ohrwert - Aberrate (Dub Techno)
https://entropyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ohrwert-aberrate

One of my favorite works from Ohrwert (who also releases ambient music under his real name, Arjen Schat), Aberrate is just three tracks, but wow are they good. Make sure you have access to super deep bass to catch some of the underlying rhythms in Panorama and Asphere!


Mon0 - Sensaura (Dub Techno)
https://mon0.bandcamp.com/album/sensaura

If a 33 minute album can be called an EP, this is a good one. There are three 10-minute tracks, and they're all interesting. They switch moods from one to the next, so the collection has quite a varied feel to it.


Doublereflect - Aquanaut EP (Dub Techno)
https://axaminerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/doublereflect-aquanaut-ep

Here we get 5 tracks, two are remixes of the first. Both remixes sound different enough from the original not to be annoying, one being from the above-mentioned Ohrwert. Except for one of the remixes, these tracks have very heavy beats. They have a bit more of a thunderous sound than most Dub Techno I listen to, but the effect is cool and I recommend it.


Basic Channel - Basic Reshape (Dub Techno)
https://hardwax.com/44095/basic-channel/basic-reshape/

I have to include at least one EP from the inventors of Dub Techno, Basic Channel. Two tracks of different lengths, with very interesting sounds. Both tracks took their entire respective sides of the 12" vinyl it was printed on, but one was to be played at 45 RPM and the other at 33 1/3 RPM. These are remixes of others' works that I have not heard, most accounts credit them as being nearly original works in their own right.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interview: Bola

A little while ago, I asked Bola (Darrel Fitton) if he would kindly answer a text interview. He said he would, and another little while later, the following text file arrived. My questions are in italics, his answers follow. At the time of posting, he has a new album on the way, D.E.G! See his artist page at Skam Records here: Skam Records On a personal note, I am so thrilled to have the honor of posting this. Bola is one of my favorite artists, and I am terribly grateful that he took the time to give us this interesting insight into his work. How did you get started in music? I've played piano from about the age of 7 and that's probably why I still have classical leanings, but I would say my first introduction to something resembling contemporary music would have been through my skateboarding buddies at about 14 years old. Those guys were all a bit more clued up in most things than me back then.. and I guess being part of that crew led me to being introduced...

Interview: Submersion

In 2015, I got a notification on Bandcamp that someone I follow bought "Deluge" by an artist I had not heard of named Submersion. By then, this was already a long-time name used by Justin Francazio to release his electronic music compositions. I gave it a quick listen and was instantly impressed with its depth of texture, unusual sound, and the wide variety on its four tracks. Since then I've hunted down everything I can by him, and it's all very good. Recently, I had to opportunity to get an interview. What follows gives some interesting insight into his music. How did you get interested in constructing music? It was possibly the early exposure to the small electronic section of my record store, early online music sites, or dissatisfaction with traditional music. But starting in my teenage years I wanted to make music electronically. Around that time, I was searching online late at night trying to figure out how to accomplish this, and out of the blue I'd receive...

Review: Zzzzra – Vive la Lenteur (2014)

When we think of Dub Techno, the names Deepchord, Basic Channel, and Andy Stott come to mind. Over the past several years, Zzzzra has been releasing great Dub Techno albums one after another, and in my opinion, he belongs on that list. Vive la Lenteur is a double-disc set of tracks released on Brian Grainger’s Recycled Plastics label, and it’s another great set. There’s a single-disc edition of this release, but it’s a combined group of tracks from both parts of the double; I’ll be writing about the double. Last.FM (I’m almo2001 there) tells me that as I listen to the opening track, “Il N’y A Pas De Fin”, that I have heard it at least 34 times. I’m hearing things I have not heard before. This means that while the music is fairly minimalist as Dub Techno usually is, that it has a lot of layers and subtlety to it. It has a warm and calming sound, but there’s subtle distortion on some parts of it that give it an edge. On a personal note, I find that there is gentle music that I find l...