Saturday, March 21, 2009

PETAR DUNDOV - ESCAPEMENTS (2008)

REAL TECHNO REVIVAL
ARTIST`````PETAR DUNDOV
ALBUM`````
ESCAPEMENTS
GENRE`````TECHNO, MINIMAL, RETRO

YEAR````````2008


WHOA!
Now, since i tend to trust in techno music ever since I started listening to it and since I always knew that it doesn't matter when mainstream techno easily and frequently starts to sound like pure empty crap (just like the rest of the mainstream music) and that this genre should be respected by critics just like any other genre, great examples of electronic repetitive brilliance always come as a huge breathe of fresh air which reinforce my desire to either dig up old stuff or wait 'till something new comes along.

Escapements is a beautiful injection and a slap in the face to the industry. It's retro in the truest possible way, the songs reach climax using only the hihats and crashes (just like it used to be) and the melodies never, ever stop. Read the great review below from some unknown source.




ALBUM REVIEW AND SOME BIO:
Techno music is a funny old game at the moment. The merest hint of fashion, or ego, and the old guard are up in arms. In 2008 then, they are marching with pitchforks on Berlin, waving banners proclaiming ‘we want the old Hawtin back’. It’s understandable, of course. This music was never about image, less so personality (put up your hand if you remember Rising High’s infamous “Faceless Techno Bollocks” t-shirts). It was owned by no one, a treasure discovered by those fortunate and open-minded enough to appreciate it simply on the basis of form. A lot has changed. Mixmag proclaimed that techno is now officially ‘sexy’ music. Er… it always was, thanks. But cue media frenzy. Everyone’s moved to Berlin. ‘Minimal’ is a — get this — ‘new sound’... don’t make me laugh. Sure, there is a slew of copycat, dullard 4/4 records going around that are about as cutting-edge as the Kaiser Chiefs, but this does not a musical revolution make. Far from it. And yet, as always, there are gems to be discovered by the adventurous. Techno isn’t dead, it’s just suffering from a dodgy botox job and a sketchy PR consultant.

Petar Dundov is a Croatian producer whose new album Escapements is a thing of absolute joy. Despite a number of previous releases, including one for Jeff Mills, I hadn’t come across his work until now. What Dundov has achieved so effortlessly here is to cross the apparent gaps in the world of techno, to remind us all of some things we may have forgotten. This album takes the word ‘minimal’ and applies it in the classic sense — long, meandering pieces that seem to do little yet are constantly evolving. Drums are pared right back, whole tracts of the album are powered by a simple kick and nothing else. You get the feeling that the club will explode with the momentous arrival of a hi-hat. And it will. But that won’t be for the lack of anything else going on. This album contains heavy synth action. This album contains a lot of — gasp! — arpeggios. For the oldest of the old guard, there was a time, fabled in the history books, when even trance was not a dirty word. Before it was co-opted by fluoro-adorned crusties in the '90s, trance and techno were almost interchangeable terms, particularly if a track was long and repetitive. Escapements harks back to this period and beyond (She In Purple gives a nod to Italo disco), but it’s not wilfully retro. It simply takes the perceived rules of modern minimal, techno and trance and throws them out of the window to create something rare: a truly honest record. And it bangs. The single Oasis is a monster. It is almost impossible to explain in words — just one of those tunes that is ten minutes of big sound system perfection, a guaranteed future classic. But Escapements also contains deep and reflective elements: Waterfall, for example, could easily be straight out of the Motor City with its big strings and deep, driving groove. Dundov’s not afraid to throw the drums out entirely either, with both opener Kanon and closer Anja’s Theme stripped bare of them.

So refreshing then, to hear this album. This is about as real and purist as techno music gets in 2008, and proves there’s plenty of life left in the old dog yet. Time to stop worrying about Hawtin’s jedi-knight-meets-flashing-bluetooth-box shenanigans and start concentrating on great techno records again. Make no mistake, in Escapements Petar Dundov has supplied us with one.

DOWNLOAD

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your mixes and am in need of a new one. I'd like to issue a challenge:
Music For Running Naked Through An Endless Field Of Sprinklers

Is it from panic? Wild abandon? Bacchanalian revelry?
You be the judge.

Cheers,
Croke

Anonymous said...

Thank god he's back. Kachoing!


> Music For Running Naked Through An Endless Field Of Sprinklers

... chasing your naked gf!

Unknown said...

Hey Panda,

in June 2009 we're releasing 'Cocktails', an album haunted by the ghosts of Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Henry Mancini & Serge Gainsbourg, and served up with a modern electronic twist.

We were wondering if you would like a promotional copy, and if you would post a track or so on the blog if you liked it?

Can we submit this and press materials digitally?

Cheers.

Unknown said...

Oh, sorry and thanks for this- I'm loving it!

Bleeding Panda said...

Hey Green Shrouds! Love your name:)

I would be thrilled to have your promos here. And I would happily write a nice review and maybe throw in some artwork inspired by your music:)

Upload everything you want posted with links and everything and give me the link in the comments on this post:)

:))))))))))))

Unknown said...

Hey Panda, thanks, that would be great!

The Green Shroud 'Cocktails' Promo Pack

here's a link to download a promotional copy of our debut album 'Cocktails'.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/kienlp

Or:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/UmNJeFlURnc4Q1IzZUE9PQ

Make a cocktail, dim the lights, and enjoy!  Deckchairs/plastic palmtrees/photovistas optional...

Post up what you like- maybe just a few tracks, if that's ok.

Thanks again for this blog, I've found some great stuff here - nice to meet someone with music tastes as eclectic as my own!

Unknown said...

i was DJ before 10 years (croatia also), i was fortunate enough to meet Petar, i also played with him few nights..What i can say is that Petar is modest, simple and good person. He never had "superstar dj" behaviour (which he was in croatia long before 2000). One night my headphones died, and he simpy said "come on, use mine". Also he provided me with free drinks (that he bought) and so on, i could go all night.BUT like i said he is TRUE artist and person! Hehehe, and also he has gorgeous wife!!!

Viagra said...

That is great artwork!

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