The quiet before the storm. The abyss before birth. The moments that came before everything else. This is Episode Zero, Ben Gibson’s inaugural album on Chronicle. It takes us soaring through a musical narrative, beaming down into vast acoustic valleys of sound. From the very rst notes the intent is apparent, lucidly slipping into a pool of full moon atmospherics. Departing deeper he carefully calculates each and every step, building momentum and pace until the way back is completely forgotten. Tracks like “Foreclosure” reach peak potential with crushed, mangled percussion, while others such as “Symptom” maintain a more seductive yet equally deadly pull. Building upon pillars of 12”s, Chronicle and Ben Gibson are now venturing into a new territory with Episode Zero marking the rst step. Join us.

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More than six years into his career after several EPs and a full album, there isn’t much known about Ben Gibson, and he is clearly keeping it that way with intent. Gibson first emerged on Jeff Mills’ experimental, influential 6277 sublabel but then again vanished into the ether; he only reappeared three years later on Perc Trax, even more surprisingly with a full-length. Since then, he’s gone on to steadily more notice with Perc’s imprint, Sect Records, and most recently M_Rec LTD in spite of the continuing lack of information. Exposure isn’t the most important thing for us at Chronicle though, and after hearing these five tracks, we saw exactly what it is that drew Mills to him from the beginning. It is a sound that we find a perfect fit for the techno futurism of our Chronicle series, and here we offer a platform for Gibson’s more sci-fi, ethereal sounding material, exclusively on vinyl for the fifth edition of our sublabel. It commences mysteriously with the big room drones of Almaz, which clearly references the work of the Detroit pioneer who initially brought him to notice. The textures of the keys slowly morph as they’re interrupted by garbled static pulses, and the tension builds steadily over the duration as the atmospheres become thicker and stark, minimalist techno drums make their entrance to develop alongside the rest. After the opener takes a quiet bow, Cemlins continues mood he has built in a static-laden soundscape of gently shifting rhythm and held tones which move steadily upward to a rousing finale. The second side opens more succinctly in techno territory with Vapour, but it again takes a lighter hand with bell-like tones floating over the rest. Here, the feeling remains optimistic rather than ominous, but he quickly shifts back for Miasma, a subtly uneasy techno track full of unbridled intent. Rhythmic static and low-mixed, funky bass move in a deliberate pace with the delicately developed drum programs. Finally, the almost-vocal sound of the haunting lead in Convey brings this mini-album to its quietly emotional conclusion. While unquestionably subdued compared to the work of many of his contemporaries, Ben Gibson’s music accomplishes expressiveness in its delicacy that is rare in modern techno. As such, it stands in the company of few but in perfect counterpoint with the rest, and as an exciting outlier and addition to Chonicle’s explorations.

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Third release of Lyon-based label CLFT featuring two originals by Ben Gibson (Axix, Perc, M_Rec, Sect) and two remixes provided by Moerbeck (Vault Series, Code Is Law) and Thomas Hessler (Graphene, Krill). More

Back to regale us with further precious techno and house gems, DJ Skull! "Bazzar" hits the spot with beautifully harmonious synths and a techno funk guitar lick that will keep you dancing forever. "Heavy Thinker" is a delirious peak time dance floor killer, working organic drum programming against techno siren and ominous kalimba hook. "Power" is all about the old school Detroit strings and tones, setting a steady pace to keep the momentum going into the small hours. Finally, "Rise" has those unmistakable Chicago house values emerging once more, as keys and strings lift the spirits to elevate mind and body.
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Sect returns to the heart of the history once more. Chicago's legacy is finally represented on the label by one of the finest producers of this city and sound, DJ Skull. Words can't do justice to the legacy of this legend of house and techno music. For almost three decades Skull has produced of some of the finest dancefloor tracks ever made, be it through Saber (Trax), DJAX, Hybrid, Majesty Recordings, Tresor, or many others. Here the Dark Knight offers four very special cuts that reaffirm his legendary status. The title track combines the most up-to-date techno production techniques with the inimitable Chicago jacking sound. "Promise Of Peace" retrieves traditional house values on the mellower end of the musical scale, while "Reboot" gets back to the straight-up techno, with some nicely understated acid elements; and finally "Big Girls" is informed by both reggae dub and forward thinking techno.
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Autoreply boss Dicken Lean aka OCH returns to Sect, a UK label waddling in the dubbier end of techno. OCH first appeared on Sect in 2011 when the label released It's All For You, compilation, an extensive selection of deeper techno cuts from artists like Jeroen Search, Jolka, AnD and Fanon Flowers. OCH's track "Tears" made the cut, which reappears on his latest Surveillance Network missive, only having undergone a murky Skirt remix. "Linear Progression" sees OCH's love of tribal percussion thrown in among resonators and reverb, while "Up For Lost" features unusually suitable bongo drumming pitched against filtered saw waves that sweep across the tracks face. "Shattered Dreams" closes the EP with something Disney sounding, but given the cloudy Actress treatment.
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As a staunch representative of Midwest techno since the mid-nineties, Fanon Flowers has always skirted on the periphery of the scene rather than getting placed on the pedestal many of his neighbours do, but this return to UK's Sect Records sees a further widening of his reach, with this particular record embracing his dub techno side with a cavernous chord deployment and plenty of metallic hits. Substance is on deadly form for the remix, trimming said chord down to a fine point and adding some welcome funk into the arrangement to a thoroughly engrossing end.
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The Dimension EP can be seen as a veritable coup from the Sect label, as iconic Dutch techno artist Jeroen Search makes his label debut with some typically wall rattling techno functionalism. Able to flaunt a discography that reaches deep into the early nineties with releases across Mills' Axis imprint, M_Rec LTD, Traut and more, Search's tireless energy for one take productions has seen him at his most productive this year and as always his tracks still retain a finely sculpted feel regardless of his preferred approach. Swiftly spiralling undercurrents of analogue acid merge in synchronicity with the tightly wound drums to provide one relentlessly driven groove on "Paralell Lives" with intermittent ascendant hat rolls and subaqueous keys worthy of the Something In The Sky series only serving to further hypnotise your senses. Complementing this, "Section A" is gruff Fachwerk style concrete techno at its finest and "Inverse" demonstrates Search's ease for producing well crafted minimalism.
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The second vinyl sampler showcasing some of the highlights from Sect's recent compilation It's All For You sees Croatia's Jolka and Manchester's Casual Violence share the billing on this fantastic 10", pairing two huge tracks that feel like two sides of the same coin. Jolka's "Life Is Changing" is the more overtly bright of the two, utilising a jagged arpeggio and bright stabs which provide an intensly hypnotic backdrop to the track's monolithic beats. On the flipside, Casual Violence's "Acceptance Of The Fact At Hand" operates on a slightly more subtle level - its sweeping strings and soothing melody deceive you into thinking the track is lighter than it is, but the thundering kicks and concise percussion tell a different story, creating what is an organic, cavernous composition filled with rich textural nuance. More

Sect Records' recent compilation It's All For You showcased the exceptionally high standard of the label's roster as well as introducing some talent to the world, and this, the first 12" sampler from the album, selects three of the compilation's finest tracks for vinyl treatment. Victor Martinez takes over the A-Side with "Dav To Dub", combining heavily delayed chords filtered to breaking point, while a massive kick drum propels everything along, and a jazzy piano melody adds some subtle ambience. On the flip, D'Knox's "I'm Sorry (remix)", is a sparse number contrasting soothing chords with micro-loops which contain the spectre of disco, with a rapid rhythmic flutter and chittering melody at its core, while Fanon Flowers closes with "Invisible Life", a murky production filled with chords that ripple like sheet metal over a flurry of 909 rimshots. More