- Mariana Wax, a new label arm of Dave Twomey's techno party in Tokyo, starts on a high note with Mariana Wax 000. He couldn't have picked a better pair of artists to help begin his latest endeavor than Mike Parker and Wata Igarashi, two previous guests at the party, but first Twomey himself offers something of a mission statement with "Challenger Deep." Working under the moniker Tr nch, he crafts a sub-aquatic soundscape filled with throbbing bass, hissing noise and an interview with the marine explorer Jacques Picard, in which he describes his 1960 journey to the bottom of the sea.
Parker looks to the past with a remastered version of "Below Zero," a track he originally released as a test pressing on his own label, Geophone, back in 2008. Fans of Parker's distinctively trippy analog style will likely rejoice in the decision to give it a proper release. It features a 15-beat pattern that spirals endlessly downward (and inward if you try to mix it with a conventional 4/4 track), and certainly ranks as one of his more challenging recent efforts. Tokyo's Igarashi finishes off this fine release with the nine-minute long "Valve." Anchored by soft-thumping kick drums and a smooth 303 line, punctuated by otherworldly growls and immersed in shimmering ambiance, it suggests that there's much more than darkness to be found in the ocean's depths.
Tracklist A1 Tr nch - Challenger Deep (Featuring Jacques Picard)
A2 Mike Parker - Below Zero
B Wata Igarashi - Valve