Browse by Artist: DEEPCHORD

Artist:	DEEPCHORD
Title:	Vantage Isle Sessions
Label:	ECHOSPACE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	ECHOSPACE 001CD

"Echospace [Detroit] is the label launched by Rod Modell (Deepchord) and Soultek's Steven Hitchell, two leading lights of the minimal dub techno scene. And as with anything Deepchord, the entire release has an air of mystery to it. Previously, as a near-mythical vinyl pressing with minimal packaging and restricted pressings, everything about Vantage Isle was geared toward the underground, or 'those who know.' However, there's nothing but love of craft driving these grooves, and now a lot more people will finally be able to hear this absolutely brilliant collection of spacial dub wonder on CD. Vantage Isle Sessions consists of a whopping 13 takes of the title track, reworked by Modell and Hitchell in various guises (cv313, Deepchord, Echospace, Spacecho), as well as a guest spot (and first ever remix) from Gerard Hanson (Convextion). Across their 13 versions, Modell and Hitchell manage to take the Deepchord template (analog synths, deep bass, gently throbbing beats, bursts of static and noise, and deep, deep chords) into a surprising variety of directions, akin to looking at the same giant glacier from a helicopter from every angle possible: some are beatless and undulating, some are pulsing and dynamic, some are looking up from under the ice and some are towering overhead. The aforementioned Convextion version is revelatory. It's built on cascading and echoing pieces of the original that are layered like shifting sands, for a distinctly dark and shimmering journey to the bottom of the frozen ocean and back. It's remarkable enough to get all these takes on one basic template to sound somewhat different, given that the source material is really just a skeletal array of sound sheets. Vantage Isle Sessions is for anyone looking for the logical successors to the Basic Channel throne, or just looking for something mellow for those steamy late summer nights. A stone-cold classic of the genre. Don't miss it." --Todd Hutlock, Stylus Magazine/Beatz by the Pound

Artist:	DEEPCHORD
Title:	Hash-Bar Loops
Label:	SOMA (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	SOMA 091CD

Rod Modell (aka DeepChord) is a sound-designer with 25 years involvement in electronic music and over 50 releases under various aliases and styles. Rod's idea of an album revolves around a concept that isn't always followed in modern day electronic long-players. A chain of feelings and emotions emanate from his work and flow in a manner that has been very carefully considered. Buzzing in atmospheric warmth and layered with mesmerizing rhythms, Hash-Bar Loops tells the tale of a hazy extended stay in Amsterdam, where the album was in the most part formed. Starting from deep and dreamy soundscapes, the album warms from the outset with the opener, "Spirits." The underlying atmosphere is somewhat disconcerting, but balances perfectly with soft, distant chords and ever-evolving percussion. The album progresses through turbulent synths and outlying melodies on "Sofitel" and "Merlot." On "Tangier," stabs and textures melt into one another, adding tension and dynamics in true DeepChord style. The swirling air of "Electromagnetic" then conveys a dizzying and hypnotic feel in which budding chords emerge from a white-washed DC soundscape. "Balm" steps into another world, with beautiful hovering chords that pulse throughout the track, forming a delicate and emotive shape. The climactic "Oude Kerk" sits at the peak of this album and deserves its crown. Arguably the most exposed of all tracks on the album, "Oude Kerk" fizzles end to end, letting the deep low frequencies and advancing percussion take over. "City Centre" then reels the synths back in, with contemplative pads that are underpinned with arguably the heaviest sub-bass on the album. Field recordings can once again be heard, hidden deep in the layers of sound on "Crimson" and "Black Cavendish," where their dense sonics slowly swell behind metallic clangs. Closing the circle, "Neon" and "Rain" steps back into the deep and wistful soundscapes heard at the opening of the album where the familiar sense of unease and contemplation toy with one another. In Soma's 20th anniversary year, they count themselves truly fortunate to be able to release music they love this much.

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