- Brutal acid techno with attention to detail.
- After weathering the minimal days in the '00s, New York techno originator Adam Mitchell, made a remarkable comeback with the Traversable Wormhole project in the early 2010s. His star continued to rise when EBM swept through clubs thanks to DJs like Phase Fatale and Terrence Fixmer and as tempos have risen steadily on techno dance floors across the world. But none of this matters to Mitchell, who has never paid mind to the trends du jour. Alongside his brother Frankie Bones and longtime friend, Joey Beltram, Mitchell was responsible for crafting New York's vicious take on techno in the '90 and his releases are still among the best hard-edged techno out there, something showcased on 2020's L.I.E.S retrospective of his earliest (and most brutal) work. From the first distorted kick to the final acid squelch, his latest double-pack, Rüdersdorf Acid Tracks, plays to his strengths with nine corrosive techno workouts.
Some of Mitchell's best work traditionally happens where the lines between pleasure and pain begin to blur. "Meteors Galore" and "1993 Acid Flashback" both sound like they could have been lifted from Mitchell's early studio days, and he sounds almost giddy distorting the 303 to the point it sounds like it might short-circuit. On the other hand, Mitchell also knows how to make techno feel more cerebral than visceral. This was the big appeal of the slightly more subtle Traversable Wormhole records, and he bookends Rüdersdorf Acid Tracks with two psychedelic chuggers, "Perceived Alien Invasion" and "88 Tram." The latter clocks in around 110 BPM, making it a nearly ambient track by Mitchell's standards.
Rüdersdorf Acid Tracks also boasts its far share of weird, ambitious arrangements. "Walk In The Woods" offsets its stomping kick drum with layered acid lines that ooze out like engine oil, the different volumes and pitches adding a distinct psychedelic tint. And what feels like an epic narrative arc emerges over "Dystopic Monolith Structures"'s seven minutes, as a twinkling synth line tries to fend off advances from the volcanic layer of 303s and grumbling drums underneath. As you'd guess from a song with the most techno name ever, it ends in destruction, with wallowing kick drums and menacing anti-melody.
Music as purposefully intense as this can sometimes feel soulless, hence the inevitable "greyscale" descriptors. Producers working at Mitchell's level sometimes forget that techno should make punters dance, not just scare the shit out of them or trigger panic attacks. But not him, What always draws me back to Mitchell is that he knows how to let a bit of groove into his records. Case in point: in his RA Exchange, he discussed the often uncredited importance of freestyle on the early New York techno scene, and other producers like Mundo Muzique fused the venom of Belgian techno with the broken rhythmic patterns of freestyle. There are the occasional flashbacks of funk across Rüdersdorf Acid Tracks, in the skittering hi-hat patterns on "Walk In The Woods" or the swung snares of "A Trip Into the Past." This attention to detail is what gives Mitchell's records their depth of soul so often lacking in this occasionally grueling corner of dance music.
TracklistRüdersdorf Acid Tracks
01. 88 Tram
02. Walk In The Woods
03. Dystopic Monolithic Structures
04. A Trip Into The Past
05. Dissociation In Desolation
06. 1993 Acid Flashbacks
07. Telepathy With Dead Friends
08. Meteors Galore
09. Perceived Alien Invasion