Reviews


 

Deepchord
Vantage Isle Sessions

Echospace — US
8/10

For those that missed the fleeting vinyl release in 2007, Rod Modell’s Vantage Isle resurfaces on Echospace as a full CD with extra trimmings. Co-piloted by Steven Hitchell (Soultek), Sessions stacks up 13 versions of the title cut in classic Deepchord form, taking the Basic Channel/Maurizio design of dub-techno into new streams of the subconscious. Like parallel universes layered one upon the next, each expression explores the core matter from a unique angle, from deeply minimal static and rhythm interactivity to the push-pull of swirling ambient tides. The central 4/4 pulse is a common thread–at times earth-shakingly dominant and at others barely discernible, like distant signal strobes through the mist.

Reviewed by Doug Morton • July 21 2008