30drop: History of Gods
30drop Records
Issued on his own 30drop Records, Spanish producer 30drop's latest EP features three originals plus a Sterac remix by the highly regarded Steve Rachmad. The identity of 30drop is something of a mystery, though we do know that he began the project in 2014 and that he's released material on Detroit Underground as well as 30drop Records. Influenced by European and classic Detroit techno, his art-techno futurism is infused with a cosmic sensibility rooted in astrophysics and quantum physics, and the purported goal of the 30drop project is to alchemize harmony, melody, and rhythm into an aural form that mirrors the infinite expansion of outer space. If that sounds grandiose on paper, History of Gods' tracks hardly play like classroom exercises; instead, no matter how carefully structured his music might be, it hits with the kind of visceral punch common to underground techno.
Up first, “Transversal Sight” achieves immediate liftoff when an aggressive combination of bleepy synth figures and pounding kick drums swells in volume and intensity. With “History of Gods,” we find ourselves moving intrepidly into unexplored territory and struggling to stay focused when dazzling light streams race past on all sides; echoes of Detroit surface in the wiry synth figures that loop at light-speed, and the now distant shuttle pilot finds herself wistfully recalling carefree moments on Earth. In adding the insistent ting of off-beat cymbal accents to 30drop's original, Rachmad's endlessly churning treatment returns the title cut to its club roots in an eight-minute makeover, after which the Spanish producer's soundscaping side comes to to the fore during “Complex Entropy” while still leaving plenty of room for the fractal geometry of his rhythmic approach. Cosmic techno is clearly alive and well.February 2016