- Sinuous techno that favors precision over drama.
- There's a certain type of trippy techno that never goes out of style, but also rarely gets the attention it deserves. Think of the work of producers like Wata Igarashi and Luis Flores, or releases on labels like The Bunker and Palinoia. The lead track from Denise Rabe's latest EP is a perfect example. The first half of "Chant" is strange and pulsing, as a beatless goo undulates and bubbles beneath her chanting voice. Lest the dance floor chin-strokers get too comfortable, Rabe lets loose storming kicks and sends it all into the realm of bad trip spiritualism, with a sitar-like synth that weaves across the tune's back half. It's the exact midpoint between experimentation and functionality, a yin and yang that the rest The Monkey And The Cat perfects.
One reason why this particular brand of techno sometimes gets glossed over is that it can lack dramatic peaks and valleys. "Icaro," for example, calls to the big room with its brushed snares and spooky touches, but never gives up the release or breakdown that most peak-time DJs look for. Mary Yuzovskaya's remix also flirts with prime-time—thanks to the harsher kick drum—but she shows a different kind of restraint, pushing the high and mid ranges lower down in the mix to give the drums space to breathe.
The fact that both Mary Yuzovskaya and Portuguese producer Vil (who turns in a broken beat arrangement of "Chant") show up on this record is telling. Alongside Rabe, these are respected names in a small corner of clubland. But they also all seem to exist in a nearly parallel universe to the boom-and-bust cycle of the dance music trends du jour. Over the course of the past seven years, Rabe has released a constant trickle of EPs for labels like Arts Collective and Stroboscopic Artefacts. These records have all the hallmarks of a craftsperson slowly tinkering with her sound (the craftsperson analogy is literal on this EP, where you can even buy hand-carved puppets to accompany the record). There are no major pivots or shifts, just a patient and precise fine-tuning. The Monkey And The Cat gets even closer to Rabe's envisaged Platonic form of techno best served at a slow simmer rather than a scalding boil.
Tracklist01. Chant
02. Chant (Vil Remix)
03. Icaro
04. Icaro (Mary Yuzovskaya Remix)