Echospace US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: With Rod Modell putting the finishing touches to his next Deepchord album (due for release later in the year on Soma), Echospace partner Stephen Hitchell took the opportunity to record a new solo set of his own under the lesser-known Intrusion alias. "Amongst The Stars", a beguiling, 21-minute chunk of soft-focus dub techno smothered in spacey analogue electronics and the distant sound of traffic, is taken from that forthcoming album. Here, Hitchell's fine "Extended Dub" comes accompanied by a trio of varied but typically atmospheric translations from CV313 (AKA Hitchell and Modell), of which the astonishingly deep "Distintegration Dub" is probably our pick. On the second CD, Hitchell dons his ambient alias, Variant, and delivers an absorbing, CD-length "re-shape" that's as entrancing as it is quietly picturesque.

Review: Intrusions's double 12" on legendary Detroit label Echosapce is a stone-cold classic of the techno genre. It has been heavily related upon by the likes of Marcel Dettman, Richie Hawtin and Francois K over the years, and has been out of print for just as long. This super limited reissue comes on virgin 150g vinyl for extra clarity, with a custom chrome sticker and "midnight blue" transparent coloured vinyl which captures the mood of the music within. That's the way it is bottomlessly deep, hugely deft and deliciously dubbed out techno with frosty synths, dusty drums and foggy atmospheres that are all about hypnotising the head as much as your heels.