As dub techno continues its vibrant resurgence, there have been few releases in electronic music more anticipated in 2007 than this one. Having already achieved significant attention with Andy Stott's critically acclaimed Merciless and its accompanying singles, Modern Love, a recording arm of the magnificent online shop Boomkat, will only see its stock rise (or perhaps, in inventory terms, fall) with this release.
For much of the techno faithful, Rod Modell holds court as if a demigod. Mere rumors of new material, let alone the appearance of a modest white label, incites delirious levels of fanatical anticipation, an impassioned fervor contradictory to his largely laidback body of work. Such has been the reaction by these zealots of deepness to the Echospace project, a collaboration between Modell and the reasonably established Stephen Hitchell. Modern Love cleverly dropped four 12" records in advance of this album-length release, clearly appealing to the core audience and its preferred format. Now that those eager consumers have devoured these allegedly sold-out slabs of wax, the rest of us can sit back and enjoy an uninterrupted blend of these eloquent experiments.
Composed using entirely analog means and instruments, a reactive methodology undertaken by more than a few likeminded artists lately, The Coldest Season obstinately delivers incongruous shivers in the heat of this summer's unruly refusal to decently depart. These nine tracks could easily have been recorded in a nuclear winter with their practically subzero soundscapes and frozen, spare beats actually contradicting the humming machines that produced them. While I have no intention of turning this review into a full-on soapbox diatribe, it seems so strange and downright incredible to me that dub, a fantastic sound which originated from the tropical island nation of Jamaica, has become so malleable as to apply to works such as this. Still, Modell and Hitchell have more than succeeded in creating such a frigid ambiance here.
From the track titles, however, it appears Echospace's fixations lie amongst the stars rather than on the earth. "First Point Of Aries" hisses like the microscopic brushing of celestial dust against the remains of a smashed satellite, its eventual rhythm systematically flicking at the larger particles. Nearly half of the tracks on The Coldest Season surpass the ten-minute barrier, an absolute must for those who seek to explore the as-yet undiscovered limits of electronic dance music. The cool post-Detroit pulsating chords of "Sunset" brush up against unwieldy traveling frequencies before a crisp kick drum and some friable hi-hats pierce through and, for our entertainment, digitally damage the original messages. Epic highlight "Elysian" unleashes its ghostly, heroic funk early on, picking up momentum with every dissonant measure, while "Aequinoxium" unravels agile, echoing beats over oppressive, crepuscular space.
Though I may be reproached for saying this, I honestly consider Vladislav Delay's inexplicably underappreciated Whistleblower to be a superior document compared to this long awaited album. With rumors of the creative dissolution of Basic Channel / Rhythm & Sound pioneers Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald blowing in the wind, this duo, to some, appears poised to seize their throne. I'd beg to differ, however, based on my experience with the conspicuous but frequently bromidic The Coldest Season, and only go so far as to concede that Echospace will at least eat their lunch.
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