Review: Deadbeat, aka producer Scott Monteith does a neat trick with this two-track release. The A-side "Vampire" is a beautifully layered Minimal tune that shows off Deadbeat's abilities as a producer to the max, using some beautiful ambient atmospherics to conjure up a unique dreamscape. The Vampire Dub on the other hand is a half-speed, 60bpm version of the original that not only captures the unique drum sounds of a bonafide 70's dub-plate, it also makes for an interesting set closer or great transition record too. Fans of minimal tech should be looking forward to getting their teeth stuck in.
Faith (Deadbeat's In The Chapel dub) - (6:10) 120 BPM
Closing Motif - (9:43) 130 BPM
Closing Motif (Luke Hess remix) - (6:34) 130 BPM
Review: Harvey 'El Choop' Jones returns to Echocord after Insane Sends. Like that 2021 release and the rest of his catalogue, Closing Motif is inspired by classic techno. In keeping with the Echocord style, "Faith" is a chord-heavy dub track. On the title track, Jones also chooses an esoteric approach. On this occasion however, it revolves around a more dance floor friendly, steely rhythm, which acts as the basis for billowing, dreamy synths. The label has also chosen two respected producers to reshape El Choop's work. Deadbeat turns "Faith" into a downtempo, hollowed out dubby affair. Luke Hess' take on "Closing Motif" is similarly introspective, but with an added layer of melancholy, rainy synths.
Review: Forest Drive West's dub-artic explorations finds itself in the Scandianavian fjords of Denmark with navigational support from dub techno beacon Echocord. Like a subaqueous blip on a sonar's radar it's "Creation Dub" that sets this record its course into the deepest, sinkiest realms of DT. With more stylistic rhythms introducing themselves into tracks like "Parallel Space" and "Drift", fresh rhythms and coldlier winds still offer slight touches of aurora borealis. Conforce sends in the chords with his remix to "Parallel Space" which go off like flares floating above the depths of a subterrain space they came from.
Review: It sounds like Lithuanian producer Grad U has found his natural home on Echocord. The Danish imprint has been one of the most distinctive platforms in dub techno and Space Explorations fits right in to its brief. "Debris Disk" starts the release with an ominous, mid-tempo groove and splintered hats, reminiscent of Dimension 5. "Hydrogen Reactor" is more functional, with cheese wire percussion mixed with tough but resonant kicks. However, it sounds like Grad U's comfort zone is a more esoteric place and the spacey chords and billowing textures of "Quantum Corrections" is a beautifully measured, reflective affair.
Review: Dub techno specialist Idealist returns to Echocord, to following up last year's brilliant Source EP. Mind Field is the enigmatic producer's second full length offering, after 2016's Firewood Road on his own Idealmusic. It showcases a great evolution of his sound: after the powerful opener "Explorer" an emotive and hands in the air house stomper (or later the austere factory floor stomp of "Smoke & Mirrors" later), the rest of the EP remains in the cavernous and glacial sonic realms you've come to expect from the Swiss producer. A collection of deeply emotive and reductive versions where warm yet forceful bass frequencies roll along a ghostly trail of reverb and echo.
Review: Zurich producer and DJ, Idealist, has been quietly churning out magnetic shades of house and dub techno since 2012. Through his own Idealistmusic, along with a number of other below-radar imprints, we have been graced by a gentle yet penetrative sound that recalls the very best of the 90s Berlin scene. So much so, in fact, that he's been called upon by the excellent Echochord label to run the dub techno slayings across three cuts. "Flow" is a powerful, direct slice of techno that fades its deep basslines and synths out into the ether, producing a hypnotic effect that we're big fans of. "Nucleus" slows the pace down but doesn't hold back on those prototypical dub chords in what makes for a real 3am kinda lick, while "Accumbens" pokes its head out of the depths and produces a tight drum roll backed by soothing, meditative synths. Class.
Review: Matthew Kaden releases his debut album as Mathimidori, nearly ten years after the release of the project's first EP. Akebono, which has found its natural home on the Danish label Echocord, starts with the reflective "Java" and "Maiia", before Kaden moves into the reflective, chord-heavy "Kioku" and the vocal-sampling "Shao". He raises the pace, albeit slightly, for the dreamy, floaty grooves of "Kobe" and "Asaka", which resound to deep piano keys and floaty vocal samples. Kaden shifts pace again and moves back to downtempo sounds for the woozy title track and the gentle, ebbing rhythm of "Soso". All of these elements combined make for an understated masterpiece.
Review: The first Echocord release of 2013 sees Metal deliver a diverse EP for the Danish label. "Parre Work" is a stab-heavy groove built on robust, metallic drums, while "Retro" is, as its name suggests, an old school techno affair. Taking its inspiration from bleep techno, its grainy bass wobbles and lunges all over the place. However, Metal doesn't lose sight of his staple sound and "Until It's Over" is reminiscent of his mid-noughties work and should melt even the purest techno hearts. Underscored by tight claps, a melodic groove builds and builds, its arcing, trancey melody recalling the glory days of Kompakt.
Review: Emergent Turkish producer Philogresz has previously appeared on such esteemed imprints as Treibstoff and Sound Architecture, but now he must be feeling very pleased with himself as he brings his fulsome sound to Echocord, a label which is itself broadening its horizons beyond the greyscale dub techno it forged its name on. There's nothing grey about "Emerald" as it comes gliding forth on lush synth work, while dub traditionalists will be happy to hear the loping wash of pads underneath maintaining calm. "Edge" meanwhile employs a different kind of dub device, using only subtle touches of delay and reverb in amongst a more mechanical construction that jerks at the restraints of the beat and very nearly unshackles itself. Echocord regular Mikkel Metal meanwhile serves up a more steady remix of "Edge" with a central synth line that keeps everything on an even keel.
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