Mote Evolver At Juno Download

Review: Now this is a bit special. Luke Slater's Mote Evolver launches the Parallel series, the concept being that two contrasting but complementing artists drop a brace of tracks each on the one release.First up, US based Englishman ASC (real name James Clements), known primarily for his forward thinking D&B excursions, turns in two whopping techno cuts. The relentless guttural throb of "Slow Burn" is offset by some slapping synths and barely there vocal snippets, kind of what we'd expect a studio jam between Levon Vincent and Boddika to sound like. This is complemented by the more liquid tones of "Transit", a reverb-laden throbber with menacing sonar bleeps piercing the swampy atmospherics. Up next, Slater adopts his seldom seen L.B.Dub Corp guise for "Lurcher's Dub" and "Native Dub", with the cavernous sub-bass and twinkling keys of the former demanding play on an implausibly large soundsytem.

Review: Luke Slater brings Berghain resident and Ostgut Ton label mate Marcel Fengler to his own Mote Evolver imprint to administer some of the heavy, driving techno that has brought the German techno success. "Thwack" sees a myriad of raw beats and mechanical sounds exploring Fengler's often abrasive style. Ploughing unstoppably forward, this is techno at its most purposeful. "Sculptures" is intensely hypnotic, twisting a wonky yet funky groove from heavy industrial atmospherics. Mote Evolver is on a roll at the moment - long may it continue.

Review: Luke Slater's impressive Mote ? Evolver label continues it rich vein of form with veteran Finnish producer Samuli Kemppi?s "Dark Matter EP." An intensely hypnotic EP, he uses a driving beat and echoed FX to create a futuristic landscape for this pulsating, minimal-edged techno beast. The talented producer continues to push things in the right direction with this one.

Review: Shifted's identity remains a mystery, but crucially, he does not come from the small coterie that has dominated UK techno over the past twenty years. Like the signature image he uses, a grey, shadowy creature creeping through a snowy forest, his infiltration of the sound has been stealthy and understated. In many ways, his lack of connection with techno, his automatic outsider status, has allowed him to effect an entrance into a hitherto new terrain. Like his releases on Mote Evolver and his own Avian imprint, Crossed Paths tingles and fizzes with an atmospheric sensibility that monochrome techno often lacks. All of this is made possible by his distinctive sound design; intricate and subtle, yet at the same time both functional and multi-faceted, where all of these divergent paths cross, you'll find Shifted.

Review: Having become something of a regular fixture in the Mote Evolver camp, Shifted is back once again to head up Side A of the second Parallel Series 12". As you might expect, the techno comes bleak and throbbing from the Shifty one, although avoiding excessive heaviness over immersive progression and dubby FX. On the flip Samuli Kemppi plies his quirkier trade, using offbeat synth mess to counteract the steady rhythm of the bottom end on "Trans Neptunian". "Detached Object" meanwhile fires off streams of interlocking sounds which spiral around the relentless kick for a classy exercise in techno restraint. Highly recommended.

Review: Submerge lands a new two track EP on Luke Slater's Mote-Evolver imprint. The "Black Mamba" EP introduces two of the dark and tweaky tracks that have brought the Chi town native to the attention of today's techno scene.

Mote-Evolver has been on a fine run of form of late. Recent releases from the likes of Cari Lekebusch, Ortin Cam and Samuli Kemppi's excellent "Dark Matter" EP are still fresh in the memory and have subsequently raised the expectation levels for every release that follows on the label. Those levels increase even more when the producer is one of the most exciting to come out of the USA in recent years. Having built a reputation as an eclectic and innovative producer, and fresh from the success of his "2012" EP on his own Impact Mechanics label, Submerge now pushes his fresh techno sound further with "Black Mamba."

The title track is an adrenalin fuelled, full throttled techno jauggernaught that gets the release underway with a bang. Bristling with energy and intensity, the track builds amid pounding beats, pulsing acid stabs and manic phaser FX from outer space. It is heads down stuff for peak time sets, sure to blow the heads off anyone who hears it. B Side, "J-XX" is not as emphatic but every bit as powerful. Crunching beats and swashing FX create a rawness that compliments the groove to perfection. Constantly building, the track grows and grows with each bar, mutating itself into an angry and fierceful climax.

Another stand out release from Mote-Evolver, "Black Mama" proves that the label can keep the quality of their output consistently high, rather than just staying noticed through an occasional track that grabs attention. The EP also shows that its creator, Submerge, is more than capable of keeping his quality at the same level too.