marcel dettmann: test-file

Marcel Dettmann releases Test-File, his first full Ostgut Ton release since 2013's Dettmann II. The 2x12" sees the renowned selector and long-time Berghain resident in explorative form, combining compact experimental techno vignettes with writhing, dubby, and distorted longform dancefloor portals -- as well as a stoned and unexpected turn into house territory. At 22 minutes over six tracks, Test-File is a series of sonic contrasts united by Dettmann's uncanny intuition for patiently shifting, improvisational dance music. Three-minute opener "Test-File" bangs in with rapid fire kicks and tape-delayed electric zaps, reversing midway into a kind of electronic palindrome. The momentum is sustained on standout single "Ascending", where an overdriven bass wave surges through a tunnel of industrial noise. The release then emerges into the arch, squishy house of "Autumn77", filled with sirens, pads and sampled vocals/laughter. The second vinyl returns initially to rhythmic experimentation with the three-minute "Torch" lurching forward rattling and machine-like, interspersed by passages of groan and hiss. "Error (1st Take)" bubbles along dub-wise, tripping atmospherically though a haze of out-of-synch synth bursts. Closer "Metalloid" wraps it all up with a hypnotic, rubber band acid line and smudged 808s clavs.