classy deep techno / house cuts on ben kaczors first album. / 1 per customer

first of a new batch of more minimal-tinged releases upcoming from the switzerland-based kcz imprint. limited to 100 copies. a metallic dub oriented ep made for dreamers on the dance floor, two tracks written out of a jam session and one of each artist that fits the vibe.

hot on the heels of his recent remix ep, featuring revisits from top-shelf groove manipulators antigone, adiel, iori and museum, paul ritch continues on the path of sonic introspection initiated by his albums >iiiiiiiiiiiiii< and >k.a.c.z.m.a.r.e.k< with >czak<. one to teleport you to the deep webs most enigmatic circuits and secret pathways, his newest effort under the kaczmarek guise finds the frenchman uncovering a mother lode of unremittingly dark and brooding techno, laced with cyphered electro fulgurances and ambient-tinged divagations outside the confines of functionality and dj-friendliness.

ben kaczor’s music both constructs and receives sonic worlds that question our received notions of physicality, time and space.

‘mind fiction’, kaczor s first release, comes with organic artwork such as a growing plant cover and simple yet sleek thai design inspired by a recent tour to southeast asia. the ep serves as a perfect example for kaczor s own artistic vision: moody textures and mellower grooves meeting his trademark raw and gritty, forceful attack-laden release of rolling drums, bass and percussion, pointing to kaczor s own roots in the more stormy outbacks of broken beats or uk bass. first track ‘balance’ starts off with a softer, textured soundscape, nicely balancing melancholy synth waves and drum rattles into an atmospheric opener with a slowly oncoming and unfurling, melodic twist. the title track ‘mind fiction’ more closely follows kaczors very own signature formula of a simple and driving bassline followed by an evocative build-up rushing into an emotional, cathartic breakdown. ‘asta’ might be kazcor s most daring and trippy production to date: an intense mixture between hypnotic, hard hitting thumps and thunderous rolling drums taking the listener into the electrifying whirl of a night-time storm, where the tense and dense, humid atmosphere culminates in a monsoon-like rainfall of spiralling reverb – marking a fitting crescendo for this impressive debut on kaczor s now very own sonic ground.