Alexander Kowalski – Echoes

Now this is the kind of minimalism I can get behind. The first Alexander Kowalski album is a resolutely purist techno affair, a warm hardware techno fest that - while minimal in composition - is sometimes pretty maximal in production. Big reverbs, deep grooves, warm spaces, synth stabs, throbs and a propulsive energy throughout make this a recommended listen for anyone into techno.

Ratio features some hypnotic triplet bleeps above some emotive strings, Hearing Is Believing piles on the verb atop a motious loop, Delicious has that typical shuffled Roland drum machine vibe beneath sustained and slightly wonky bass notes, and Oxygen ventures into dub territory with is expansive verb washes. There's much more here but suffice to say this is an easy album to listen to, to groove to, and to space out to. But unlike most techno that ventures into minimalism, it is not boring. Echoes is propulsive deep techno that is very much worth a listen.

Although Kowalski's sound is eclectic and visits all the corners of the techno spectrum, "Echoes" is a defining moment in the genres history. The songs on the album and similar but different simultaneously, a smooth blend of deep cavy basslines set on a backdrop of crisp hissing filtered rides and jumpy offbeat fundamentals. This release is one of his first and setted the trend uneffortlessly to produce a fresh mix of ambient throbs and rolling techno funk that is really a one of a kind combination. A definate classic production, "Echoes" is an essential component to any self-proclaimed techno enthusiasts collection most definately.