TITONTON Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Titonton Duvante is not mentioned often enough when the sounds of the Motorcity are cited across the underground music landscape. The Detroit talent has been making beats since the early 90s, and he's touched several important labels like Planet E, 7th City and Multiplex in his time, along with his own excellent Residual Recordings. He's back on our charts after a lengthy hiatus with a HOT reissue of his 1998 classic, The Arousal, which kicks off with the utterly twisted, cybernetic groove of "Fetish", a deranged analog techno lick, which quickly dissolves into the bubbly synth attack called "Uhephna". On the B-side, "Lick" launches some devastating kick drums over a minimalistic bleep rhythm, and "Skin On Skin" goes for a comparatively more laid back and jazzy approach. All in all, a magnificently effective bunch of dance bruisers.

Review: Back in 1995, a previously unknown producer named Tintonton Duvante made his debut with the Embryonic EP on Metamorphic Recordings. The producer has long since established himself as one of electronic music's more interesting producers and DJs, but that debut 12" remains something of a classic. Here, it gets the re-mastered reissue treatment (somewhat helpfully given that original copies fetch quite a price these days). There's plenty to admire, from the proto broken beat-meets-deep house-and-Detroit techno of "Metaphysical", and the raging, surprisingly tactile acid funk of "Signs of Inertia", to the pleasingly futurist, broken Detroit techno (with deep house chords) of standout "Celestial Gaze".

Review: Titonton Duvante has been at it for a long time, working alongside the likes of John Tejada and Morgan Geist in pursuit of the pinnacle of full-bodied, synth rich techno on the emotive, musical end of the scale. On this latest release for aDepth, Duvante is on stellar form, especially with the starry-eyed harmony of "Provocative" ringing out through his trademark plush synthesisers. "Forment" goes even deeper into the melodic side of things with its heartbroken Rhodes lines dominating the track, albeit with a few trancey swathes worked into the mix as well. Remixes of "Provocative" come from Hinode, who drops a detailed pitter-patter of drum machine techno coloured with wobbly synths and bubbling bass, and Maarten Mittendorff & Jasper Wolff's spaced out but propulsive meditation.