Techno 2.0 indeed
Nope, not another generic term for something house but not quite garage. Shed, for the uninitiated, is a Berlin-resident named Rene Pawlowitz.
However, the personification of a genre he may as well be. Leading the dub-techno charge in 2010 with his ‘The Traveller’ LP on Ostgut Ton, which married the spacious, broken-beat atmospherics of dubstep with the stripped back ethos of minimal techno, his next opus, this time on Modeselektor’s 50 Weapons, is an even more resounding affair.
“I think it is definitely techno!” he tells Clash. “In fact, this album is my definition of techno music.”
Drawing on the elemental tools crafted by our Motor City forefathers to nudge things on a little further, intentionally or not, ‘The Killer’ evokes a dystopian planet deprived of natural sunlight and human resources, where cyborgs are sentient and rule as a formidable industrial force. “I love the brutality that this bleakness creates,” he adds. “It all sounds very serious and direct.”
All of which may sound slightly clichéd - this is techno after all (just with value added sub-bass) - but it’s the way Pawlowitz tells it that makes it so impounding. Scene by scene, the album unveils more. Delving deeper into engine rooms brooding beneath, it becomes more visceral, intensely dramatic and a whole lot more panel-beating as it goes. Techno 2.0 indeed.
ESSENTIALS
‘Keep Time (OSTGUT TON)
‘I Come By Night’ (50 WEAPONS)
‘VIOMF!/The Filler’ (50 WEAPONS)
However, the personification of a genre he may as well be. Leading the dub-techno charge in 2010 with his ‘The Traveller’ LP on Ostgut Ton, which married the spacious, broken-beat atmospherics of dubstep with the stripped back ethos of minimal techno, his next opus, this time on Modeselektor’s 50 Weapons, is an even more resounding affair.
“I think it is definitely techno!” he tells Clash. “In fact, this album is my definition of techno music.”
Drawing on the elemental tools crafted by our Motor City forefathers to nudge things on a little further, intentionally or not, ‘The Killer’ evokes a dystopian planet deprived of natural sunlight and human resources, where cyborgs are sentient and rule as a formidable industrial force. “I love the brutality that this bleakness creates,” he adds. “It all sounds very serious and direct.”
All of which may sound slightly clichéd - this is techno after all (just with value added sub-bass) - but it’s the way Pawlowitz tells it that makes it so impounding. Scene by scene, the album unveils more. Delving deeper into engine rooms brooding beneath, it becomes more visceral, intensely dramatic and a whole lot more panel-beating as it goes. Techno 2.0 indeed.
ESSENTIALS
‘Keep Time (OSTGUT TON)
‘I Come By Night’ (50 WEAPONS)
‘VIOMF!/The Filler’ (50 WEAPONS)
