Manchester has always been considered a sacred ground for the kind of deep, dark, brooding techno that is often considered to be as important as early braindance music. This bold notion can be well understood though with a quick glance at the back catalogues of Mancunians such as Autechre, 808 State and the Modern Love label, to name but a few – artists driving from the front from as early as the late Eighties. It’s no real surprise then to learn that Paul Carroll, the human behind the Dead Sound moniker, is a resident of the same city.
A glance at his webspace stresses that this project manifests itself as “Techno/Electro/Breaks/ Electronica/Dubstep” but only about the first 60% of that overly ambitious statement applies in the case of this first outing. On opening track ‘Faith’, the listener is bombarded with robotic, drill-bit techno which, coupled with the cybernetic mantra “Believe what you want to believe”, actually makes for an appealing introduction to Dead Sound. His mix of straight-up techno sensibilities with flutters into IDM and the kind of breaks that seem to creep up and smack you from nowhere make this release an interesting little grower
Having garnered early support from revered heads such as Surgeon and Rob Hall, Dead Sound looks set to be beamed across many a forward-thinking dancefloor in 2010. One piece of advice though: don’t make the mistake that this reviewer initially did. Find some good speakers and listen LOUD. Matt Hazley
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FOR FANS OF: AUTECHRE, SURGEON, RICHIE HAWTIN, SPEEDY J.
DOWNLOAD: ‘FLIPSIDE’, ‘REFLEX’.
Having established themselves as a veritable hub of free underground music, Belfast’s own hard working heroes Acroplane have taken their first foray into the realm of commercial releases with the striking, psychosis-laden epiphany that is Locust Halo. Porcelain Minotaurs is the new musical outlet from Jason Kohnen of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble and on this the project’s debut EP, he manages to cultivate a unique air of darkness, laden with hauntingly expressed breaks and rolling digital mindscapes.
While this EP sits quite comfortably inside the dubstep camp, it’s important to realise that this release, like a lot of the music on Acroplane, is so much more. The sheer musicality surpasses many of today’s most successful producers and the entire release drips with undertones of jazz and drone, all whilst maintaining a very focused and deep, ethno-musical sensibility. With Locust Halo, Kohnen has fostered an EP that will stand up equally on a dark, purposeful dance floor or in a consciousness-bending, post-rave comedown. Matt Hazley
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DOWNLOAD: ‘WITHER’, ‘REPTILLIAN II’
FOR FANS OF: SHACKLETON, MORDANT MUSIC, SCUBA
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