Perfectly Deep Weekly #56:
Luciano Lozz, Dohnavùr, Isabel Soto

Dohnavùr - The Flow Across Borders (2022)
Werra Foxma Records

Tags: #experimentalelectronica #ambientelectronica
 

While playing with their respective bands at an electronic music open mic night in Edinburgh at the beginning of 2018, Ali O'May and Frazer Brown became friends and formed the duo Dohnavùr. The name comes from Scots Gaelic, Google Translate tells me, but it does not know what it means. So we'll have to guess.

Musically, the two explore the breath of the electronic music spectrum. We're presented with fragments of deep techno, breakbeats, drones, and synth-wave, to name a few. All of which are merged into a bedrock of experimental electronica and ambient.

Frazer uses the raw materials Ali gives from his modular setup to create tracks whose feel, genre, and direction are all influenced by Ali's fundamental building blocks. Frazer uses his encyclopedic knowledge of electronic music to create these compositions instinctively.

The album opens with 'New Objectivity,' a mellow ambient track with subtle vocal snippets and a curious synth theme surrounded by massive layers of synth pads. This track is followed by 'Sestriere,' a minimal techno composition that introduces enthralling arpeggiators around the halfway mark. Very captivating.

Next follows 'The Kindness of Others,' which sounds a bit like an instrumental pop ballad - if made entirely using synthesizers. 'Sunk,' the next track, skips directly out of the 'deep' bracket: It is an energetic breakbeat-driven floor burner of a track.

'Twenty There' deserves mention also, with its clear chiptune and 8bit influences that might not qualify as deep electronic music per se, either. However, the repeating motif still gives it a hypnotic and somewhat deep feel.

My favorite track is the closer, 'Pass Remarkable,' an ambient track that slowly builds with granular additions to the drone-sounding synth pads that make up the track. This track's many delicate details make it a remarkable and enchanting experience. Try to turn it way up and let it swipe you off your feet.

The album comes out on the Edinburgh-based Scottish label Werra Foxma, which was established in 2020 and features a potent roster of electronic music producers from around the world - in addition to producing intriguing limited edition merchandise. They also stand out from the standard label template by running a subscription club where members can get exclusive, first-row access to vinyls and other goodies.

Isabel Soto - Akasha (2022)
Diffuse Reality Records

Tags: #minimaltechno #darktechno

From the highly productive Barcelona-based label Diffuse Reality label comes Isabel Soto, an upcoming Venezuelan music producer, and DJ residing in Montreal. Starting to make waves across the planet, she has become known, among other things, for her ongoing residency at DifferentSound Records in Tbilisi. It is an international organization that organizes podcasts, artist sessions, off-beat musical projects, and, generally, techno sounds to the city club circuit and various events across Georgia.

Musically, Soto produces hypnotic/deep and funky music, which has found its way onto wax from labels such as Second State, Concepto Hipnotico, Concrete Tbilisi, Dorian, and - as mentioned - DifferentSound as well Diffuse Reality for this one.

Furthermore, she has appeared on various podcasts and live streaming channels, including Monument, Shift Radio, KVLT Records, Bloop London Radio, Deepicnic, and others.

The entire album sits in the realm of deep and pounding, minimal techno. It starts with a no-frills techno track, 'Precession,' which is 6.5 minutes of proper minimal, Detroit style to get us started on this musical journey. 'Solar Wind,' the next track, ups the ante by turning up the tempo and falling inside the bracket of 'fast techno' (a rare genre in this newsletter).

'Mauve Wave' is a personal favorite of mine on the album. A rather stripped-down, minimal techno track with a hypnotic quality. It starts the second half of the album, which is even more dancefloor-friendly - without ever losing its 'deep'-qualities.

As mentioned, the album comes out of Diffuse Reality Records, which we've featured a few times in this newsletter in the past. It is the most productive label I know of, with an average of 4-5 releases per week, many of which are on vinyl. They serve as a niche for straightforward techno in general but also issue more experimental stuff from time to time. Most of it is good or even great, so it is one of the labels where I check out all they do.

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