Since his earliest 12†EP releases on German independent label Plong! Back in 2001, Swedish electronic producer Anders Ilar has become one of the figureheads of the European leftfield techno scene, with a steady flow of material over the past decade on labels including Shitkatapult, Audio.nl and Merck. In the wake of his 2008 ‘Swoon’ collection for Kompakt’s Level imprint and recent darkside techno oriented ventures for Narita, this latest seventh artist album on US label Yard Rec ‘Stories Of Old’ sees Ilar crafting classic lush atmospheric techno landscapes with a distinct ambient / IDM influence, making the choice of title here all the more appropriate. Opening track ‘Carving Wooden Hearts’ kicks proceeding off on a sinister and darkly-hued note as eerie minor-key synths and dark ambient drones trail like smoke tendrils over a stripped down backbone of relentless techno rhythms and ominous, creeping bass pads, the entire track carrying a distinctly Kompakt-esque ghostly, post-minimal tech vibe that would sit nicely against one of Reinhardt Voigt’s brooding excursions, before ‘Heliopause’ steers things into more blissfully contemplative waters with the one truly ambient / beatless offering here, sending stretched-out harmonic tones ebbing out over each other like the slow crawl of sand dunes as minor keys drone off into the middle distance.
Elsewhere, ‘Unconditional Surrender’ sees skipping, garage-inflected house snares interlocking seamlessly with crunching broken rhythms in a similar manner to 2562′s broken post-dubstep techno as glittering synth pads shimmer against buzzing overdriven electronic noise, while the cavernous ‘Arcturus’ offers a sidestep out into icy, gleaming downbeat IDM as frigid synth atmospheres waft over a backdrop of burbling bass tones, flickering minimaist breakbeats and creaking textures, the constant presence of glitchy artefacts at the very edges of the mixing creating the impression of nervous working their way just beneath the calm surface. As well as the seven original tracks, there’s also two remixes packed in here that throw a distinctly more rhythmic slant on things, Adam Johnson’s reworking of ‘They Themselves’ tossing in additional nu-skool breaks muscle alongside churning near-acid synth distortion, while Yard’s remix of ‘Maschine’ goes for restrained tech-y class as vaguely soul-kissed pads reverberate over a backbone of jacking tech-house rhythms to swirlingly hypnotic effect. An excellent album that sees Ilar up to his usual lofty standards – move fast however, as the physical CD release is limited to just 500 copies.
Chris Downton
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