Modal Analysis Schallplatten & CDs

Review: With each release Yves De May is slowly breaking away from his Sandwell District-alumni status. After releasing just the one remix (of Sawf) in 2012, Transfer is the enigmatic producer's second release this year after the Metrics EP for Opal Tapes. This 12" for Modal Analysis involves three Transitions, with the lapping waves of white noise in "Transition #1" surprisingly offering something soothing, not harsh and malicious. Like a wild beast stirred from a stupor, "Transition #2" grows into a solidified and rolling remake of the former, with skerricks of static buzz creating continuity between tracks. The third Transition takes up the entire B-side, and with drums seemingly inspired by Vatican Shadow or Regis, it's the EP's culminating track that fuses the best elements of each Transition into the one cohesive piece.

Review: George Kondaktor aka Slydex and controller of the Modal Analysis label delivers his first 12" following a tape album for Further Records in 2012. He's also assigned Greek industrial demi-god Sawf and the so far mysterious ANFS to remix his two signals. "Signal#1" is a drawn out, bit crushed and metallic swirl of cavernous atmospheres while "Signal#2" sounds like a dying T.V transmitting its final message before being dumped in a wet bed of scrap metal. ANSF gives "Signal#1" a decipherable groove compared to the aerated original, while Sawf pumps up the jam in "Signal#x2" with a bassline that sounds like a gnarly version of Suicide's "Ghost Rider".

Review: Modal Analysis continues its unrelenting march towards the darkest territory in the electro landscape with this deadly 12" from Morah, which wastes no time in laying waste to the good vibes with the sinister stomp of "Voltage#1". The second track pumps up the rhythm section and lays down a sidewinder of a synth line that smacks of understated rave perfection, and it's that same synth that courses through the marginally more hypnotic "Voltage#3". Vapauteen offers up a remix of "Voltage#3" that slows the original right down and works a kind of mechanical tropicalia into the bones of the original.

Review: It's safe to say that Sawf can now be classed as a pillar of the contemporary techno sound. Having released on every label from Per Trax to M_REC and Code Is Law, the producer is now a respected member of the Berlin alliance, both for his tunes and for his DJ sets. Modal Analysis, a Greek imprint dealing in militant techno, has also been on his CV and he returns to the shadowy label with four grizzly sound sculptures. "Sonic1" and "Sonic2" are all fuzz and doom, a wonderful cacophony of noise and power electronics. "Sonic3" is a loose techno missile free of kicks and full of percussive power, while "Sonic4" let's the machines unwind and unfold into a rhythmic soundscape with a bleak outlook. Recommended.