- There was obviously something special happening in the studio in the winter months of 2005-2007 in Chicago and Detroit where this beautiful 12” was recorded. This single is the first of four album primers from the recent collaboration of Detroit’s Rod Modell (Deepchord), returning after something of an exile, and Chicago’s Steven Hitchell (Soultek), with final tweaking done at Berlin’s famous Dubplates & Mastering. This should be a point of note for the geographically inclined: it’s a sign Manchester’s burgeoning Modern Love label is making a strong push for inclusion in the famous techno axis. On the strength of this, and their recent releases, they’ve got a strong case.
Both tracks on this single, and all on the forthcoming album, were recorded using old analogue gear with real attention to technique and detail. Yet the analogue warmth is blanketed in the winter mood of the recording period: there’s a post-Basic Channel density to both sides as well as a patient emptiness. As the titles suggest, the heavy snow and biting cold have been transformed off-planet: The A-side ‘First Point of Aries’ begins with malevolent hisses of gas nebulae that gradually become underpinned by cavernous nodes of pulsar dub, shaking the echospace to the core almost as if in slow motion rage. It takes an age for the beat to drop, and when it does it’s almost light, but there’s a brooding and softly resounding bassline hidden here also. ‘Celestialis’ begins much the same way, only it’s more crystalline, with the rhythm working the mechanism of gravity from the opening bars. It’s evocative stuff, conjuring up images of a cold and alien inhabited zone in deep space isolation. Absolutely staggering ambient dub-techno and highly recommended.
TracklistA First point of Aries
B Celestialis