Electronic Music stalwarts Vince Clarke (Erasure/ Yazoo/ Depeche Mode) and Martin L. Gore (Depeche Mode) band together to create a techno vehicle that will appeal to their combined wide fan bases. Clarke expounds on the genesis of the project to be from a period of listening to ‘a lot of minimal dance music’ which gives you a heads up on what to expect. This first ep from the project which was released just prior to end of year revelries and is created specifically for serious dance floor action. It is predominately straight up minimal techno track with crackling static beats and marching beats, flourishes marking time frames and changes prepared with an electronic polish that belies their experience. Tonal inclusions are well wrought and explorations of glitch elements only to aid the impulse towards dance floor domination. There is a particular feel about the aesthetic that holds it in early 90’s trance but the production values and clear understanding of the dynamics of the main floor sonic requirements holds the track in good stead as a dj weapon of choice. Mixes including tribal house and tamed acid house effects in the XOQ remix which comes across as a strobe and smoke machine pumper, with incredible builds and deep baselines with a sophisticated nonchalance. XOQ is the alter ego of Ãœberzone, Californian based producer who mixed the forthcoming album ‘Ssss’. ‘DVS1’ aims at a tone signal and shaker combination to throw over the bass kick and hi-hat rhythm and explores minimal variations of these combinations in the ‘DVS1 Voyage home remix’. The ‘ EditSelect’s remix is a fairly muddy hypnotic stripped down affair that relies on its deep kick and the inclination of the audience to tune in to a monotone. The ‘Regis’ remix is more complex in its production, crafting a great deal of rhythmic variation and playing bass line against a simple beat before introducing the building bassline and leading into a track with deep house style elements within the restrained minimal template.
Overall it is a stomper of an introductory EP and bodes well for a well received album. It has few surprises in terms of stylistic development or technical innovation but is a very solid dance floor mover.
Innerversitysound
