- Matt Edwards embraces the simple and repetitive aspects of techno like few others. That's not to say he doesn't have his curveballs and side projects, but what Edwards is best known for, especially as Radio Slave, are long, thick slabs of techy groove. He has a way with minimalism that can turn a track as unassuming as 2014's "Don't Stop No Sleep" into a club anthem, and that same prowess touches "Vision," his first original production on his Rekids label since 2013. As usual, it's a slender record—backed only with a remix—but that means there's no fat.
"Vision," a nine-minute exercise in graceful rigidity, is just what Radio Slave does best. It's exceptionally lean: some drums, a dull, breathy bassline and a deadpan vocal that chimes in every once in a while. Edwards punctuates it with needlepoint percussion and droning chords that sound a little like horns—it rolls along with a perfect simmer, always on the cusp of boiling but never bubbling over. Marcel Dettmann's remix sounds like a vintage cut of his, sticking the original in a subaquatic pressure chamber. The Berghain resident highlights the earthiness of Edwards' bassline and plays with the track's timbral qualities, the kind of cerebral detail that defines Dettmann's best work. His careful touch lends it a psychedelic edge, making it the trippier alternative to Edwards' stone-faced original. Both artists are in fine form here, sticking to their guns and reminding us why they're still held in such high regard so many years into their careers.
TracklistA Vision
B Vision (Marcel Dettmann Remix)