- There's a group of Italian artists who are currently looking more to the UK's ongoing industrial revivalism than their own country's long tradition of deep techno. Many of them are linked to Repitch, a noisy Berlin-based label headed up by Shapenoise, Ascion and D. Carbone. Gaja, an associate of the trio who is based in Italy, has launched an imprint called Ophism, which he's inaugurated with the second 12-inch of his career (following Patterns on Repitch in 2013). If the three tracks on Modern Passitivity are anything to go buy, the Italian's sound hasn't softened since he debuted two years ago. It's nevertheless still a niche one, and it sits at the workmanlike end of the noisy techno spectrum.
Modern Passitivity is jarring and abrasive, but you could still almost call it a minimal. Very few elements are used in each track, setting it apart from most music in the same sphere. The 12-inch's three cuts—"To Have," "Appear" and "To Be"—are essentially loops, giving them a dizzying quality that eludes most techno of this intensity. All feature the same main ingredients: big bass notes and rolling synth snippets. It was more or less the same story on Gaja's first piece of wax, so here's hoping he broadens his palette on his next endeavour.
TracklistA1 To Have
B1 Appear
B2 To Be