Marcel Dettmann / Tama Sumo & Prosumer - Phantasma Vol. 3

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  • Everything about this release screams "buy me." From the cover art, which features a clown being transported in a cart pulled by geese and Satan whispering in a pipe smoker's ear—maybe old Nick really does own all the best tunes—to the superior mastering and exquisite vinyl pressing, this is a real work of art. It also helps that the music attains the same high standards. Less abrasive and yet just as hypnotic as MDR006, Marcel Dettmann's "Helix" trades on the distinctive dubby beats and nuanced filtering that the Basic Channel/Chain Reaction school of techno has spawned. Thankfully, Dettmann avoids sounding like a dull copyist through his use of a swinging rhythm, raw, somewhat abrasive beats and the kind of screeching metallic riffs—last heard on Dr Motte's "Klange Der Familie"—hurtling through the ether. Prosumer and Tama Sumo's contribution, "Alien Mutts," is also in debt to a traditional sound, namely Chicago house, but again, the interpretation is excellent. An aching, acid-tinged bass unfolds to reveal layers of synth richness, eerie, almost austere in places but never out of place amid the tumbling, reverberated drums and heavy claps. Hopefully this record's ghostly charms will have a similar effect on a wide audience.
  • Tracklist
      A Marcel Dettmann - Helix B Tama Sumo & Prosumer - Alien Mutts
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