- An LP of quietly inventive techno from the label that has mastered the art of the techno album.
- Towards the end of 2022, techno's Lennon/McCartney—Zenker/Zenker—broke with tradition when brother Marco released a solo album packed with restless techno, itchy drum & bass and yawning ambient interludes. Now, almost exactly a year later, Dario has his turn with Reflection, an album that feels both more focused yet also more scatterbrained. Instead of Marco's clever inverted structure, on Reflection, Dario infuses his ambient tendencies into the grooves themselves. By now, the Ilian Tape techno-for-your-home-stereo formula is well-established, and here Zenker offers yet another welcome variation with just enough new layers to make it sound fresh all over again.
If so many Ilian Tape records feel as if they're in a cloud of smoke—admittedly, I have written this many times before—then something about Reflection is distinctly underwater instead. From the beat-juggling thrum of the aqueous opener "ASM 61 Gate" onwards, the drums and textures reverberate either like they're deep sea diving, or shaking off the water after a dip in the pool. Some tracks are deeper down than others: "2085 Blacksea" sounds like it's thundering from the ocean floor, like a Porter Ricks track was felled by its own staticky storms, while others, like the lopsided house of "Round Ritmo" or the gritty electro of "GEV 84"—with its uneasy pads and chord progression—are clearer and more present, though still smudged.
It's impressive how much mileage Zenker gets out of his style, even when the tracks don't feel all that different on the surface. Listen closely to the gasping dub techno of "Jah True" and you'll hear a footwork rhythm section beneath the chords and slippery hi-hats. The happy-go-lucky house of "Da Conducter" is uncommonly straightforward for a Zenker track, a bit like listening to an Ibiza dance floor from a bathroom stall. "Fade Forum" veers from woozy downtempo to Squarepusher-style percussive flurries and back again, while "Quantized Rise" hints at the hip-hop influences that have defined the label since the beginning. It's a slice of cut-up revivalism with an Amon Tobin flair.
If Reflection differs from all the other excellent albums on Ilian Tape recently—this is the rare dance music label defined more by its long-players than singles—it's in the sequencing. It lacks the straight-up weirdness of Marco Zenker's recent album, or the careful world-building of Skee Mask and Andrea. Instead, what it has is dextrous banger after dextrous banger, with a talent for programming drums front-and-centre. So many previous full-lengths have blended drum & bass with techno, but there's a whole lot more going on here than that, as Zenker constantly finds new nooks and crannies to stuff drums into, or new ways to string hi-hats, snares and kicks together. It's a quietly inventive album of techno that only becomes more complex and captivating the closer you listen to it.
Tracklist01. ASM 61 Gate
02. The Tease
03. Ear 660 Cruise
04. Round Ritmo
05. Da Conductor (MK39 Mix)
06. Quantized Rise
07. 2085 Blacksea
08. GEV 84
09. Jah True
10. Output Reflection
11. Fade Forum
12. The 600 Prophets