- Cybernetic trance with stellar remixes from Tin Man and Skudge.
- Joseph Kindred has lived a few musical lives already—synth music head, Ibiza resident DJ, purveyor of atmospheric techno—but all of his work is defined by an ear for graceful melody and lush arrangements. His latest project, under his Jozef K alias, is a new label called Dreaming Forever, and the first release, Loveparade 2096, takes Kindred to the frontiers of today's trance-obsessed techno scene. These two heavily arpeggiated originals seem tailor made for marathon nights and perfect come-up moments.
The title hints at the future, but I'd wager that "Loveparade 2096" might be more at home in 1996 than almost a hundred years from now. (Though it does pack an a bottom-heavy oomph that you don't get in a lot of vintage trance.) Over almost nine minutes, Kindred slows down and speeds up a persistent arpeggio, loads it up with dive-bombing hoovers and weaves between sections of shoulder-checking breakbeats and svelte breakdowns, including a little monologue about LSD. (Is it cheeky? Is it self-serious? Honestly, it fits so well that it doesn't matter.) Going down wormhole after wormhole, "Loveparade 2096" the kind of track worth playing almost all the way through on the dance floor. "Astrophel" is its more functional counterpart, with an arpeggio that just won't quit and wonderfully modulated synths that make you feel like you're aurally tripping.
The remixes, from Tin Man and Skudge, are interesting because of their relative restraint. Skudge turns the track into one of his minimalist techno-house hybrids, with just the ghost of the original's trance decadence floating in the background. Tin Man, meanwhile, turns in one of his best efforts in years, adding his signature sad acid lines and smudging the hoovers into a blurry backdrop. It doesn't match the intensity of the original, but it's unusually aggressive for a Tin Man tune. Packed with melody, fulsome texture and extended psychedelic grooves, Loveparade 2096 is the highlight from a busy year for a workhorse producer.
Tracklist01. Loveparade 2096
02. Astrophel
03. Loveparade 2096 (Skudge Remix)
04. Loveparade 2096 (Tin Man Remix)