- Seattle label Orac has been plugging away at expressive, IDM-influenced techno for half a decade now. It's most famous son is Bruno Pronsato, one of my favourite producers at the moment, and you would do very well to check out ORAC09 if you're looking for smart, haunting micro techno. Jon McMillion, a software engineer by day, is fishing in the same waters, but the title track from the latest 12-inch on the label is less groove than bad mood. Built around a groaning male voice, warps and whistles, it adds up to a late morning curled up in the corner of the club on ket. McMillion swears by Warp material such as Squarepusher and the influence shows—the track is too harsh and metallic to find its way onto many decks.
Quenum from Cadenza injects some much needed body into his more straightforward techno remix. Falling nicely between being inviting and overpowering, this one highlights vocal snippets, glitchy keys and nervousness. This edit would really warm the crowd into a dark and deep mood. It's a bit like something off Alex Smoke's Paradolia: techy, industrial tinged with just the right amount of bite.
"Lands End" rounds up the release, but unfortunately it sounds like a Paul Van Dyk studio offcut, confused by too many samples and wispy synths pushed in random directions.
Of the three, Quenum wins by a country mile. If you spin harder parties, attended by harder folks, his remix is a brooding bad boy that could be a useful mixing tool.
TracklistA1 Back On That Road
A2 Lands End (Goodbye Trace)
B Back On That Road (Quenum Remix)