Obtane At Juno Download

Review: It's easy to dismiss Italian producer Obtane as being too serious. While his releases on Zooloft bear truly strange names, there is no doubt that he makes arresting, at times disturbing music. For much of Garden, he focuses on the abstract and textured - indeed "Sonic Entomology" is little more than a series of outer space bleeps and blips. Obtane follows it with "Mescaline Garden Hose", where a wash of growling noise is eventually transformed into kicking drums and powerful bassy belches. Obtane returns to familiar Zooloft territory on "Opium Vision" and "Inner Absorption"; stripped back and droning, the intense pulsing basslines house eerie acid licks and mysterious, half-heard mumbling vocals.

Review: The focus is on Italian techno right now, but Obtane's latest release shows that he's not a 'tunnel'-sounding show pony. Admittedly, "Symbology of Decline", with its fathomic, pulsing rhythms and layers of dense, dark drones doesn't depart too radically from the hypnotic sound that Obtane and frequent collaborator Gigli have been pursuing on their own Zooloft label. The real surprise occurs on the title track; starting with a squelchy bass and dramatic chord stabs, the arrangement veers into the kind of menacing, metallic riffs that Rob Hood pioneered on Minimal Nation. Obtane may be wearing his colours clearly, but "Utopian Man" sets a standard for his peers to follow.