Current Plays

Butane - Becoming is my favorite new techno full length album. Remember, this is from the same genius who graced us with "How Low Can You Go" from his On the Ket twelve-inch, and this new 2x12" on Andrew Rasse's own Alphahouse label is top-shelf material. Immediately upon hearing the first track "Collapse" I knew I was hearing a masterpiece. Now that 99% of new techno releases suck because any jackass with a cracked copy of Ableton Live can make tracks, it's nice to know that I can still depend on artists like Butane to deliver something that's still got some soul, funk, and depth. (See also : related Foundsound Label artists Miskate and Someone Else.)

I just discovered Brommage Dub last month, and I have yet to hear a bad release from this pair (Jean-Louis Huhta and Jesper Dahlbäck). Their last release Carbon Oxide is a perfect record : two tracks, each filling the entire side of the vinyl, and both are undoubtedly playable. Brilliant stuff here. Now that "minimal" techno has become trendy and formulaic (yawn), I look towards artists like Brommage Dub, Rod Modell (Deepchord), Syncom Data, Deadbeat and Pole to bring me the deepness.

Speaking of which, if you can appreciate deep and dubby techno, then go back and pick up any Dean DeCosta or Steve O'sullivan (Bluetrain) record you can get your hands on. There's about a 90% chance you'll get something phenomenal; these guys are very reliable. And what the fuck are they doing now? I don't think either of these gifted producers have released anything new in the last five years. By the way, good luck finding DeCosta's Diminishing Returns! I already bought mine just a few weeks ago from dancerecords.com, and I can't believe you all were sleeping on this for so long. Holy shit I have the rarest luck. If you don't know what I'm talking about and why I nearly crapped myself when I found two brand new copies of this for just $10 apiece, then do some research. Start here : http://www.discogs.com/release/64625

I've been listening to Mathew Jonson's "Symphony" a lot lately. (I wish Forced Exposure would just get this record already so I can buy it.) Atmospheric, haunting melodies. Kinda spacey and a bit psychedelic in a good way, like most of his better productions. No wonder he brought me to tears at DEMF last year.