Various Artists – Dicom EP [Cicuta 010]
That time of month again and it’s hard to believe that Cicuta are back with their 10th free release. This one features tracks by Quantic Spectroscopy, Adam Kelly, Hadji, Adverse Event, Hecrom & Drugstore.
These 6 tracks bring the listener on a journey through dark, atmospheric, jackin’ 4/4 and broken beat techno. That’s why I love about Cicuta – They’ve got it all. It’ll be released on the 15th of June and is quality stuff as usual.
First up are Quantic Spectroscopy with Complex. This track has a nice live analog feel to it. Love the rawness to this track – the development of the main riff into a “beep” really pushes the groove forward. Great hats & cymbals too.
Adam Kelly’s track – A Fleeting Beating – is probably my favourite track on the release. It’s tough as fuck.. Longer lasting than a quick slap. It’s a right shapeshifter of a track – very smart & full of clever little breaks and changes. Really cool.
Jako Veliki Penis by Hadji is an ominous slow burner. Its got plenty of drive and is punctuated by some hi percussion sounds. Brooding, it would be perfect played next to darker sounds.
Leaving penis.. we then encounter Adverse Event’s – Labido. The relentless combination of that dirty filtered synth and the rolling kick is wicked. Timeless shit. I’ve listened to it so many times now & keep hearing new stuff – such a good track.
The 5th wave of destruction is provided by Hecrom, with Amaltea – which is a hefty dose of 1/2 time techno. I’d say this sounds fucking nuts on a big system. I honestly hate when clichéd adjectives are thrown about to describe music, as they usually don’t succeed in helping to identify the music.. but in this case – the word claustrophobic is so fitting. However, you will be amazed at how this track builds from an oppressive rumble to an incredible downbeat groove, with noise and strings filtering in almost backwards. This one caught me totally off guard. Brilliant track.
Drugstore finish it off with a cool track called Alcion. It’s pretty trippy, with middle eastern, Moroccan vibes to it. The flavour of this made me recall SYNTHESIZING: TEN RAGAS TO A DISCO BEAT by Charanjit Singh (An Indian Acid Album from 1982!). Those lines really suck you in and sound perfect on a synth.
I’ll leave the last word to Cicuta:
“We are living through hard months.. Months in which the economic news is punishing the people’s spirits. The music is always a way out – a mechanism of escape for the mind”.
DL available here: http://archive.org/download/
Can’t wait for the next one!
http://cicutanetlabel.com/releases/
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Music production and history are my biggest passions in life.
Though people often say that Techno is faceless and should be about the music blah, blah, blah.. I believe in the need to document the people and stories behind it. Techno is a very small world in reality and I think it needs a proper resource.
I hope that everyone who is interested in Techno finds this blog accessible in terms of the way that it is written. I personally prefer to hear the artists voice as loud as the music and never enjoy synopsised and pasteurised versions of old conversation; the sort that's peppered with the occasional quote here and there.
Cicuta Netlabel
Jun 12. 2012
Thanks for these kindly words, amazing review 😉