Unknown Landscapes EP.I // Various

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Label: Pole Group
Format: 12”/Digital
Release Date: 13/12/13

Since 2004, Oscar Mulero’s Pole Group has been a dominant figure in the Spanish techno scene. The label’s latest venture comes in the form of a mix series entitled ‘Unknown Landscapes’, the first of which covering over an hour of unreleased material from a range of Pole Group affiliates. With Mulero having offered up the first of these CDs himself recently, Pole Group have seen fit to issue a subsequent 12”, with four of the mix’s standout tracks from DVS1, Reeko, Kwartz & Adam X selected to make the cut.

In spite of his sporadic release history, an incredibly high standard has come to be expected from Minneapolis based DVS1 - the productions he does put out conforming to the stringent threshold he also applies to his DJing. ‘Strobe’, his offering to the debut Unknown Landscapes 12” is no different; pulsating low-end and unnerving, mechanical percussion are carried off with clinical precision between trickling hi-hats & filtered atmospherics.

Kwartz follows a similar tact through his offering ‘Hate’, the Madrid based producer venturing deeper still however. Hammering bass drums shudder beneath stuttering percussion, void of tonal elements for a good two minutes of the track. When melodic components eventually do enter, it happens subtly - faintly discordant atmospheres build before cutting to piercing beeps, returning the track to a deadpan, nightmare march.

Manoeuvring proceedings slightly away from the highly functional approach employed by DVS1 & Kwartz, Reeko places central focus on slowly migrating atmospheres through ‘Enlightenment Process’, conjuring up images of fog-covered alien landscapes.

Closing the EP is Adam X’s ‘Meridien Arc’, a track which stands furthest apart from the records other offerings. The biggest difference comes from the fact the Berlin based producer eschews the usual four the floor stomp opting for a more dynamic kick pattern, causing a ripple effect upwards to the tracks other elements. Abrasive, heaving low-end is further distorted by warped industrial textures, working towards a shuddering close in the track’s final minutes.

Previews of the record can be heard via Triple Vision, here.

Published
Dec 13, 2013

Credits
Words by Theo Darton-Moore

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Unknown Landscapes EP.I // Various