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Net Decks 16

  Tobias

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The world of techno is split into two camps: Those who have set their mind on perfecting what has been achieved and those who still, after approximately twenty years of its existence, intend to push the limits of the genre further. Spanish producer Dosem belongs to both. His bio mentions he  was equally influenced by Soul, Acid and Ambient and even though not all of these can be found on his current release with Antiritmo in their most refined form, he nonetheless delivers on an eclectic and exciting mix of styles with lots of references but few easy comparisons. Dosem doesn't let go of the linear form, he builds his pieces on insistent four to the floor beats and fills them with minimal, suggestive patterns rather than classical chord progressions or lyrical melodies. His aesthetics are closely connected to the club, his philosophy is if it ain't danceable, it ain't worth your time. And yet, he takes these premises and sublimates them, taking them from a solid to a gaseous state of aggregation in a single, seemingly simple and yet mysterious step. „Motive“ and „Effect“ are the pumping, electrifying disco dreams, „Plusover“ and „Entrance“ the visionary, psychedelic dub-trance delirations and both merge into each other effortlessly and symbiotically. What Dosem essentially does is transform these straight-forward „tracks“ into complex „compositions“ with new arrangements and surprising elements. One trick is to contrast fully-fledged tunes with moments in which the drums take over and start playing on their own, spiralling up into a lava lamp heaven as if they were part of the jam session of a 70s space rock combo. This lends a powerfully sophisticated touch to a techno monster like „Motive“ and turns the gargantuan opener „Entrance“ into one of the most ambitious and overwhelming experiences of this season: Dark breaths and a majestic funeral march lead into an exhilerating slow motion acid line, which echoes through the entire twelve minutes of the piece. This man is now releasing with some of the biggest labels in the scene. Can anyone be surprised abut that?
www.antiritmo.com

A label with a similar approach, albeit from a very different stylistic angle, is DCC Records Cologne. Their releases always have a highly „musical“ flair, with flexible harmonies and rakish melodies, intelligent arrangements and a gripping catchiness. Tisserand's „Telegram EP“ is another perfect example. Somewhere between instrumental electro pop, romantic EBM and groovy techno, these six tracks develop a weightless sound, which inobtrusively drills its way into the cortex. Tisserand has a talent for making his structures breath naturally and of suggesting everything with next to nothing: Almost all of the pieces are built around one or two ideas, but it is the way in which the individual lines interact, fuse, entangle and disentangle themselves from each other that makes them seem much more intricate than they might look on paper. Not once will you have the feeling that something is missing from the tracks, not once the sensation that things are needlessly dragging on for too long – on the level of theme development or filter modulation, there is always something going on. And then, of course, Tisserand keeps his tunes concise and short and he knows how to switch from one mood to the other as easily as Michael Schumacher changes gears: „People like you“ is naive android-funk, „Eat the Reason“ darkly brooding techno and on closer „Not Attainable“ there are even some punctuated vocals. This music is always one step ahead of the listener.
www.dcc-records.de

The great thing about netlabels is that they make fascinating releases possible, which otherwhise would never see the light of day. Take „Dubsuite Rearranged“ on Stadtgruen. Could you imagine this collection of twelve fresh acts, including some experienced producers, being pressed to CD anytime soon? Right. Any yet, it is a wonderfully atmospheric, highly entertaining, brilliantly crafted, astutely creative, astoundingly coherent, dramaturgically diversified and intelligently insightful sampler, which not only proves the worth of the remixers' blueprint (Dubsuit's deep dub track „Eigenleben“), but also its inspirational strengths. Almost all of the participants have well understood that a project like this one lives off a combination of respect and playfulness. Subsequently, the original remains recognisable in most of these reworkings, but it is wilfully turned around, twisted and taken to sympathetic extremes. sm.art pulls the main motive into smooth and soft pads, Toby Dreher tears it apart in the chamber of echo, while the nine-minute „Der Monzur Aspekt“ first circles like a fun fair rundabout, then lifts off into a higher state of mind in a confounding cloud of whispers. Marko Fürstenberg (minimal and moody) and Das Kraftfuttermischwerk (sweet and soulful) are also part of this netlabel tour de force package, which should not be missed.
www.stadtgruenlabel.net/

By Tobias Fischer

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“Net Decks” is a weekly feature of tokafi.com covering Netlabel releases from the techno and electronica scene. It is published each Monday. For including your infos, having your releases reviewed or joining the reviews team, please contact us at tobias@tokafi.com