terrence dixon: from the far future pt 2 

AVAILABLE 10.3.12  Twelve years ago, Tresor Records released Terrence Dixon's debut album From the Far Future -- a personal homage to the art and ancestry of techno, culminating in a discursive and dream-like course through the genre's many tomes, complete with subtle nods to key protagonists such as Kraftwerk, Derrick May and Juan Atkins. A luminescent and ethereal catalog of tracks awash with shimmery synths and taught, rhythmical programming that still holds true today, From the Far Future made for a stunning first full-length that cemented Dixon's already proven credentials from his Population One work and Utensil Records foundations. The Detroit native returns to Tresor Records with From the Far Future Pt. 2 -- an ambitious, scope-y and deeply personal sequel. As Dixon states: "From the Far Future Pt.2 is my real-life drama playing out before your ears, it has everything on this album that has something to do with where I live. I wanted to make this album as huge as it could be. This is a statement album. A variety of tracks from a minimal point of view." The album takes the form of a 14-track CD and double vinyl LP, with just three overlaying tracks -- the bubbly "Fountain of Life," uplifting "Horizon" and stung out "The Study," as well as two different versions on the atmospheric builder "Dark City of Hope." From the Far Future Pt.2 is a masterful and extensive techno album that alludes to -- without relying on -- Dixon's Detroit heritage and affinities. Tracks like the CD's three dystopic numbers: "Path to Mystery," "The Auto Factory" and "Lead by Example," for example, deploy recognizable tropes of techno past, spun into a unique and inherently modern Dixon vernacular. Elsewhere, warm syncopated house, wonky jazz, grainy dub textures and smoky ambience complete this rewardingly heterogeneous album.