- Initial Berlin, which launched in 2015, says it has an "open-minded approach" to techno. This was true of its first two EPs, compilations that ran the gamut from grizzly acid and lean rollers to funky bombs. The Bologna-based producer Mattia Trani, son of the late Roman disco DJ Marco Trani, has a similarly freewheeling approach. He mostly makes Detroit-inspired techno and electro, though last year's debut album, The Hi-Tech Mission, also touched on hip-hop and drum & bass. Trani, who contributed a track to a digital-only EP on Initial in July 2016, returns with Bionic Life In A Static System. For the most part, it's deeper and warmer than anything on the label so far.
Trani's compositions are busy, with multiple elements jostling for space at once. Sometimes this works, as it does on three of Bionic's tracks, and sometimes it doesn't. "Universal Fusion Spirit," the EP's incongruous opener and weakest cut, is quick and noisy with sharp kicks and bright synths that eventually grate. It's followed by the record's standout track, a gorgeous acid roller called "Reach The Infinity," whose rhythmic flourishes and pillow-like pads are so at odds with its predecessor you'd swear it was by a different artist. Trani turns his hand to subaquatic electro on the title track, and Head High-style techno, complete with a feel-good riff, on "The Hybrid Connection." Again, both tunes are distinct—the drums on "Bionic" rumble beneath the surface, while they cut through "Hybrid" with conviction—but in each case the elements merge nicely.
TracklistA1 Universal Fusion Spirit
A2 Reach The Infinity
B1 Bionic Life In A Static System
B2 The Hybrid Connection