- The first 12-inch in the Equalized series, released ten years ago, was a milestone for René Pawlowitz. It was when, as he told Todd Burns, he "started to think about all of these things that I wanted to do a bit more professionally, to make it more than this small thing." Equalized #001, like every subsequent EQD record, was a stamped white label with two side-long techno tracks. In the time since, EQD cycled through several ideas, such as 3/4 time signatures, breakbeats and big synth melodies. These records, punchy and expressive, were made for those who shared his view of techno being more than "bom-bom-bom."
As with Equalized #005, which came out in 2011, Equalized #006 foregrounds melody, though both sides are more pared down than their predecessors. On the A-side, the pick of the two, pin-prick arps skip a beat every 16 bars, so that the melody and rhythm are out of sync. It's a neat echo of a trick used on the B-side of Equalized #001. The drums travel in straight lines and on top of one another, mimicking a locomotive chug. The B-side is also a roller, where deep bass synths and ascending spirals of melody combine for a simple yet texture-rich techno track. Cymbals skim the top of the beat, like a stone on a lake, while springy hi-hats bounce off a sticky synth accent. Equalized #006 isn't the strongest 12-inch of the series, which may have already served its purpose. Lots of labels now make techno with twists that reflect the EQD approach—that it took so long for the rest to catch up says a lot about the series' foresight.
TracklistA Untitled
B Untitled