Saturday 5 September 2009

Vinyl Only #4





























The fourth in the vinyl only series is two recent releases by Traversable Wormhole. TW have been producing dark and forward thinking techno on white labels for the past year. With no description, info or detail as to who is behind them, they are one of an increasing number of artists (particularly Hardwax affiliated) who seem to favour this anonymous method of distribution for 'serious' techno these days. Their four releases to date have all been stripped back techno that fits that cavernous sound well, combining industrial soundscapes with a mix of off kilter and 4/4 beats and deep, rumbling basslines, reminiscent of Mills or Luke Slater's Planetary Assault Systems.

Both releases fit this mould and neither strays too far from TW's tried and tested path; the A side of TW03 features a clanking two note hook over a deep, menacing bassline, before a melodic synth shines through the darkness after four minutes. The TW03 B side has an off kilter drumbeat, burbling bass bursts, vocal snippets and a lot of reverb in a little changing but effective composition.

Following a similar pattern, TW04 dedicates one side to a deeper dancefloor track, while the other side follows a more industrial route. TW 04 uses a simple piano and synth combination to build up to a moody and deep techno track with industrial percussion and off beat hi hats, and this is the side I will play most. The B side is the slower and more industrial side of the two, a deeply layered, hissing, squealing and clanking factory of a track that would feel at home with recent Ostgut tracks.

Anyone who hasn't heard it should check out their mnml ssgs mix from earlier this year, a superb mix that moves from deep to driving melodic to hard edged industrial pot banging techno, as well as taking in a couple of their own releases along the way.










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