- Detroit dub techno with soul, lots of reverb and even some wailing guitar.
- He may be a transplant, but 2Lanes reps Detroit like he's from there, and his music shows that he's a faithful student of the city's electronic music history. Last time we checked in on him, he was jamming with fellow Motor City residents Shigeto, John FM and Ian Fink (among others) for a warm, loose dance record. His latest, Diamond Rain, lands on Cape St. Francis and continues his collaborations with guitarist Jonah Baseball, diving deep into variations on dub techno for an EP packed with sinewy basslines and gorgeous melodic touches.
Diamond Rain begins with a feint. The title track is a piece of lumbering techno whose lead-footed kick drums and growling wubs pay homage to Joey Beltram's "Energy Flash," with the heat mitigated by the occasional icy blast of synth. By the time we're at the wonderfully-titled "Bootcut Chords," we're on more familiar ground. This is what we come to 2Lanes for: Detroit worship with hot-potato dub stabs and an incredible bassline that burrows a curvy tunnel underneath the track, like an errant mole. If Rod Modell ever made tech house, it might sound something like this.
The basslines are the star on Diamond Rain—check the kick-sub interplay on "TX Plunk," which feels both funky and severe in a very Juan Atkins way. The pitch-bent low-end steals the show every time. And there's another loop-de-loop low-end on "Everlast," which features a goofy but endearing vocal from Natty G, building from weirdo minimal into a smouldering pop epic. Finally, there's the punch drunk "Mind Print," whose elegant dub techno mood gets a Tangerine Dream touch thanks to Jonah Baseball's wailing electric guitar. It's a neat little encapsulation of 2Lanes' sound, which mixes Detroit reverence with impish irreverence.
Tracklist01. Diamond Rain
02. Bootcut Chords
03. TX Pluck
04. Everlast feat. Natty G
05. Mind Print