DeepChord Presents Echospace ‎– The Coldest Season

For someone like me who's just starting to explore the depths of dub techno (of course I've been aware of it and other dub forms over the years, but I'd never experienced more than casual flirtations with the genre), this is an excellent entry point. I'd heard most of the early Echospace EPs by the time I heard this, so I knew what to expect, but it's amazing how the album transports you into its frozen sonic landscape. The static hiss that whirls around most tracks coats the lush, filtered chords, well-paced beats, and dub basslines like a gentle snowstorm, easing you through the 80-minute experience. This is definitely an album to experience as a whole, preferably on good-quality headphones, but it's also nice to put on your stereo as relaxing background music.

This release caught me completely off guard. I had read reviews saying how amazing it was, and I had experience with Modern Love before (Andy Stott) so I knew it was a quality label. I wasted no time ordering it and upon listening to it the first time I was completely taken over. What was 80 minutes of music seemed to go by in only 5! This is music my friends... Whether you're a fan of dub techno or not, this is something I believe everyone could enjoy. Bass, echoes, reverb and just an overall mood that really does feel like a cold season. Most of the tracks have a distant static noise in the background, this adds even more to the depth of music and you can almost feel the cold air while listening. I've never heard anything (save for DeepChord) quite like this before. Impossible to pick favorite tracks. This really is an album that needs to be listened to in one sitting. Treat yourself to this bad boy, you won't regret it.

Its been a long time since the height of the Basic Channel sound when Maurizio was producing was producing those timeless slices of dub-techno minimalism. As that sound evolved into modern dub Reggae it seemed for a while that this sub-genre was no more.

Of course, those with an ear to the underground would have known that the sound never went away. Rod Modell, under his Deepchord moniker has been producing minimal dub techno since the late nineties. Initially, he was often written off as a basic channel clone who added little to the sound and at times this may have been justified. Some the the earlier relases tended to lack a little identity and sound somewhat bland.

However, on this release along with Steve Hitchell, they have taken the sound and made it their own. The album begins with some highly minimal, static driven abstraction and becomes more and more complex as it goes on, making more use of cavernous bass, rhythmic beat constructions and effects that push this sound to its limits. Serious late night headphone business! An essential album...

The only question is where can they take the sound from here?

Loads of bass, lots of effects on the synth stabs, echo, reverb, check, check, and triple check. Music to drown yourself in? Check. Welcome to the "Coldest Season" and I'll tell you now, it's not cold. It's a serious dip into the world of deep tech, and it's warm and inviting. It's beautiful and gorgeous, full of tracks that really don't go anywhere and were never meant to. It's minimal techno. It's a gorgeous tapestry of sound, with waves hitting like the ocean in a hurricane while you sit in the eye of the storm. This side of technro is as expeimental as everything that :Zoviet*France" did, yet it doesn't beat you about with it. It just simply invites you in. And it's all there for you to ride those crests of... SOUND. It's just plain sound at this point. No songs, no, that doesn't matter, this is the soundtrack of your dreams. Beautiful soundscapes that will make your subwoofers shake and make your eardrums quiver. My God, this is music.