Quantec Cauldron Subsidence
Joined at the hip, sonically speaking, minimalist producers in Detroit and Berlin subverted standard (and […]
Joined at the hip, sonically speaking, minimalist producers in Detroit and Berlin subverted standard (and increasingly stale) techno and house of the mid-1990s by reducing music to architecture you can dance to. Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, and Plus 8 artists all got there first, but youngish German Sven Schienhammer (a.k.a. Quantec) was apparently doing some active listening back then. Echoes of this shift in sound design and texture are all over Cauldron Subsidence, his second full-length in two years. It includes unreleased tracks from 2001 that show Detroit-Berlin (Kenny Larkin, Rod Modell, Mike Huckaby, Vainqueur, Scion) inspiration on “Absolute Level,” “Satisfied,” “Profound Experiences,” and “Deep Rooted.” Although it’s hard to tell where the archival stuff ends and more recent work begins, a detour into current dubsteppa territory is most clear-cut on “Pandemonium,” a sexy, shuffling bass jam that would feel right at home in a mix on Rinse FM.