- France's Paul Nazca, co-founder of the under-appreciated Scandium label, here makes his debut appearance on Cologne's Boxer Recordings with a dazzling contemporary 12". 'Scandale' reveals Nazca to be a producer with his finger choking the pulse, using minimal structures as a springboard for bolder, more aggressive sounds.
Opening with a rapid-fire burst of 16th note pulses, spacious surroundings and an increasingly strident synthetic wash soon mark 'Sleeper' as more trance than acid. Being Boxer, this is tasteful 'new' trance, capable of restraint, and while it nods both to Chadronnet's 'Eve by Day' and Break 3000's 'Flash' there is enough originality here to savour, particularly the unpredictable (though not unsettling) shifts midway through as phrases and patterns jig and stagger. If the end comes as an anti-climax and the highs don't quite induce vertigo, this will still send hands to the air.
The B-side starts limply with 'Western', an earth-bound linear number working around an incomprehensible vocal line ('was you'? 'wash room'?). In this esteemed company it's little more than filler, but the percussion and driving quarter-note bassline upon which it rests, and closes, is modestly arresting. The following 'Svell' however is my pick
here: partly a synthesis of the two preceding tracks it surges both forward and upwards through a skillful combination of motifs. A disorienting repeated melodic pattern recalling Frank Martiniq gets things bouncing, and it's shot through with so much adrenaline it doesn't let up. As further details are roped in - calves, a dark machine-like hum, and thick raincloud pads - vastness is hinted at but all is kept levelled by the emphasis on restless forward march. This is an outstanding track, and alongside 'Sleeping' makes for an essential record of sleek, brash, euphoric techno.