Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 (VAST 001):
VAST Recordings lives up to its name in its debut release. Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 is no run-of-the-mill VA compilation. Each of the 11 tracks on the effort flows purposefully into the next, demonstrating the imprint’s wide creative range compared to most contemporary techno labels.
Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 starts off minimally, as Marteka Fair buoys dissonant chime effects with warm atmospheres in “Outerworlds.” In the next track, “Star Date,” she and VAST label boss Spencer Hardwick take the opposite approach, overshadowing the foreground of the arrangement with foreboding howls.
Hardwick goes solo in “Interference Pattern,” aptly titled as it plays with disharmony but still somehow satisfies the senses. Then, “Impedance Dispersal” by d.lawrence signals a shift in direction. The drums don’t come in until after the two-minute mark, allowing a restrained melody to wash away the tension instilled by what came before.
“Fever Dream Sunset” by Michael Ferrell follows, pairing a lively bass line with what sounds like a robotic death rattle. Elias Garcia takes one step further into the darkness in “The Infinite.” Crescendos of atonal noise disrupt the single’s psychedelic rhythms at calculated integers.
Following in this macabre vein is “Sucker Punch” by Declan James, its steely percussion telling a sonic story all its own. “Asleep At The Wheel” then sees James Kelley evoke an air of suspense with each new layer added over the course of its nearly seven-minute runtime.
Matthew Cha offers up an especially inventive cut in the form of “Fluid Dynamics,” whose artful noise resulted from a single-take recording of a Buchla 200 synthesizer. After that, “Prophecy Of Mental Anguish” by SOLëM lives up to its title with a bevy of haunting frequencies seemingly recorded during an exorcism.
d.lawrence closes the compilation with the serene ambience of “Segmented Thoughts.” It offers a needed respite following the ground covered throughout the previous ten tracks. The concept’s pillowy chords are made all the more soothing by what sounds like the gentle rush of a shoreline.
VAST Recordings has set out to accomplish no simple feat: to introduce something new to techno without betraying its refined aesthetic. Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 is as good a start as any. It not only establishes VAST’s distinctive sound signature but proves it as versatile as it is dance floor friendly.
VAST Recordings lives up to its name in its debut release. Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 is no run-of-the-mill VA compilation. Each of the 11 tracks on the effort flows purposefully into the next, demonstrating the imprint’s wide creative range compared to most contemporary techno labels.
Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 starts off minimally, as Marteka Fair buoys dissonant chime effects with warm atmospheres in “Outerworlds.” In the next track, “Star Date,” she and VAST label boss Spencer Hardwick take the opposite approach, overshadowing the foreground of the arrangement with foreboding howls.
Hardwick goes solo in “Interference Pattern,” aptly titled as it plays with disharmony but still somehow satisfies the senses. Then, “Impedance Dispersal” by d.lawrence signals a shift in direction. The drums don’t come in until after the two-minute mark, allowing a restrained melody to wash away the tension instilled by what came before.
“Fever Dream Sunset” by Michael Ferrell follows, pairing a lively bass line with what sounds like a robotic death rattle. Elias Garcia takes one step further into the darkness in “The Infinite.” Crescendos of atonal noise disrupt the single’s psychedelic rhythms at calculated integers.
Following in this macabre vein is “Sucker Punch” by Declan James, its steely percussion telling a sonic story all its own. “Asleep At The Wheel” then sees James Kelley evoke an air of suspense with each new layer added over the course of its nearly seven-minute runtime.
Matthew Cha offers up an especially inventive cut in the form of “Fluid Dynamics,” whose artful noise resulted from a single-take recording of a Buchla 200 synthesizer. After that, “Prophecy Of Mental Anguish” by SOLëM lives up to its title with a bevy of haunting frequencies seemingly recorded during an exorcism.
d.lawrence closes the compilation with the serene ambience of “Segmented Thoughts.” It offers a needed respite following the ground covered throughout the previous ten tracks. The concept’s pillowy chords are made all the more soothing by what sounds like the gentle rush of a shoreline.
VAST Recordings has set out to accomplish no simple feat: to introduce something new to techno without betraying its refined aesthetic. Incoming Transmissions, Volume 1 is as good a start as any. It not only establishes VAST’s distinctive sound signature but proves it as versatile as it is dance floor friendly.
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