matrixxman: deep mind

With the third release on MANHIGH, new altitudes are achieved by recruiting one of Techno’s rising stars. Best known for his work on Dekmantel and Ghostly International, since 2012 Charles Duff has attracted increasing attention for his personal and unique take on Techno. Originally from San Francisco but now based in Berlin, following his shift in locale his sound has moved on towards a more European sensibility, a mode in full display on his Deep Mind EP for MANHIGH. The title track shows the effortlessly layered, hard sound that first emerged on the Ghostly LP perfected, a circling bell pattern building tension until he dramatically drops the bass in midway through. ‘Polarity’ heads for deeper territory, sampled internet detritus and hovering pads forming background radiation for tightly-wound bass figures and his patiently-deployed percussion. The focus shifts even more towards the bass on ‘Beacon’, an ionized bleep-scape pulsing ever-louder and the producer displaying typical rhythmic adroitness in shifting the patterns to re-construct the track through the breakdown and build tension throughout. In an unusual turn, veteran German producer Goner reinterprets ‘Beacon’ into his own transmission, re-focusing it on layered atmospheres whose density increases in step with the re-programmed rhythmic elements that arrive in repeating waves.