- Modern dub techno has become techno's adult contemporary, taking a pleasant and once experimental sound into the doldrums of repetitive formula. Brendon Moeller has long fought against this homogenization (armed with more aliases than a fugitive on the lam), and usually sets aside his Echologist moniker for his most conventionally techno material. His recently launched Steadfast imprint has had no shortage of Echologist releases, ranging from the powerful tech house of "Giant" to the plundering dub techno of "Slow Burn" or the flowing ribbons of "Just a Ride." This flurry of activity culminates in a second artist album under the alias.
Unlike 2005's Explorations Vol. 1, a breezy journey through the kind of deep but danceable sounds you could expect from Echologist, when you start Subterranean, you'll hear some synths drone and gurgle to life and then wait for the beat to come in. And then keep waiting. And wait a little longer after that. For the most part, it's a beatless, pseudo-ambient record. Moeller has removed most of the conventional percussive elements, leaving behind a record that often feels naked and vulnerable. It erases the dub techno dilemma by plunging the familiar whooshing and sweeping elements into cliffhanging uncertainty. So—even though the album contains edits of previously-released tracks like "Slow Burn" and "Ritual"—Subterranean is like no other Echologist material you've ever heard.
While a soundscape record from a techno producer could easily be a snoozeworthy misstep, the album—recorded in one go—carries the same burning energy you'd expect from a live performance. To say that an album runs together seamlessly is beyond cliché at this point, but Subterranean does just that, building while you listen, sprouting new layers before dismantling itself and idly batting around the leftover pieces. It's equally unafraid of getting lost in fits of deep, hypnotic repetition ("Ritual (Phased Rework)") or challenging bouts of drone (the tracks that bookend the album), as it is in being perfectly accessible on tracks like the filter dub of "Slow Burn," which retains the original's distinctive skank.
What keeps Subterranean from falling victim to polite dub syndrome (something not too common to Moeller anyway) is its restlessness. There's a distinct progression from the sputtering coughs that congeal into "Subterranean" into the synth colossus that develops in closer "Celebration," an arc of construction and destruction that renders it both a captivating album-length statement and sublime background-listening ambience. Perhaps most impressive of all is how Moeller relocates the true essence of techno, finding energy in billowing textures rather than a kick drum or hi-hat pattern. It may be beatless, but Subterranean is a techno album, avoiding the pitfalls of the classifications "ambient" and "dub techno" while sitting comfortably in both.
Tracklist 01. Subterranean
02. Slow Burn (filter dub)
03. Lunar Cycle
04. Ritual (Phased Rework)
05. Deliberate
06. Swell (Modular Take)
07. Junkyard
08. Creation