Huey Mnemonic - Technician

  • An inspired revival of minimal techno's original template.
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  • On some level, Detroit techno has always been about work. The sounds of auto factories were embedded in the memories of the genre's creators, who reimagined the metallic clang of automation as a machine funk that would take over the world. Huey Mnemonic, real name O'Shay Mullins, falls firmly within that tradition on his new EP, Technician, which draws on the sounds and experience of his day job as an SMT Operator. The four-track techno EP, the second release on his Subsonic Ebonics label, reconfigures the "whirring and various rhythms" of his work environment into concise DJ tracks. "I feel a natural connection with rhythm, so whenever I was working I had these sounds in mind," he recently told Untitled 909. The Detroit-based producer drew from the sound of industry for Technician's three originals, so perhaps it's no coincidence that they feel of a piece with '90s Midwest techno prototypes. These are cuts that look back to the accelerated funk of Mills' Purpose Maker records, and especially the minimalist perfection of Robert Hood's '90s material. The intricate rhythms of "Technician 2" dance around a chord that lands on the two and four, in a nod to reggae and dub techno. The Tennessee producer Max Watts, a fellow contributor to the House Of Altr compilations, steps in with an excellent remix of "Technician 3," his burbling, off-kilter bassline recalling Spencer Kincy's inimitable style. All four of the tracks are stripped-down and utilitarian, workmanlike tools for the dance floor.
  • Tracklist
      01. Technician 1 02. Technician 2 03. Technician 3 04. Technician 3 (Max Watts Remix)
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