You may well have heard of Alec Troniq, coming on like some kind of progeny love-child of Trentemoller and Nathan Fake. He crafts electronic soundscapes out of a driving techno template, at once melodic, musical and deeply emotive. And he’s releasing the whole album on Broque.de. The deep and progressive techno album has been applauded by everyone from Tim Green, Switch and Maetrik to Dubfire, Richie Hawtin and Laurent Garnier. That’s praise indeed.
My personal favourite from a superb album is ‘doldrums’: ticks, clicks and crackles build and build before dropping into a medley of tumbling beats and woozy guitar-strummed interludes, at moments sounding like a pensive western soundtrack, before tightening up again with denser layering of whiplashed techno beats and bristly high hats.
Another highlight is ‘williwaw’, a deep, dubby tribal-tech monster. Bass pads gallop through a sub-aquatic soundscape, peppered with xylophone-esque chimes and metallic snares.
The pulsing Sahel wields heavy, compressed half-beats and some fizzing bass that’s reminiscent of Nathan Fake’s older material. As well as the serious and contemplative, Troniq also knows how to do fun and upbeat, evident on the cheeky bounce and claps of album closer ‘jimmycane’, or the wistful yet cheery piano chords and vocals of ‘farou’.
alec troniq – windspiel
1. n’aschi
2. doldrums [pelski highly recommends]
3. williwaw (feat miss confused) [pelski highly recommends]
4. farou [pelski highly recommends]
5. dimmerfoehn
7. sahel
8. jimmycane
