Stripped down big room sounds and jackin up front minimalist Midwest techno with FM synth exploration feature heavy on Dustin Zahn’s much welcomed debut on James Ruskin’s Blueprint Records.
This release sees Dustin Zahn’s techno as a marked crossroads of ideas.. one is his own with the superb and artistic Enemy release of “Shock Doctrine,” the other is a more linear approach of the Rekkids release of “Take the Throne,” while Blueprint continues to capitalize on a stripped down approach of mental, functional jackin techno for its latest 2021 catalog, and all the while, a growing uncertainty mounts for what is to happen for the big room festival techno sound that people in the techno community have been calling the blood for, for some time.
Though to be fair, (yes you with the cultivated sullen industrial techno aesthetic) it’s a smart artist who can understand the dynamics and sound design at play when you’re trying to make music for literal stadiums, and previously the only music that can work there was Bon Jovi power ballads. Otherwise, all the hard work put into intimate details of your track would be lost behind the concrete posts and the reverb coming from the nosebleed section, or even the weird acoustics of just wtf is going on in Gashouder. So big room techno, or dare we say, ‘business techno’ has its place.. even though some people may be too short sided to admit that. It does seem that with Covid this year there’s an idea that more open air events are happening and a lot of the larger artists are creeping back into smaller venues or going back to banging out the corrugated sheet metal of the warehouse, a good amount of artistic intent can be put back into these releases while creating a balance of what has come before.
Blueprint label head, James Ruskin, a man who has been on the pulse for successful techno since Blueprint was first laid to wax in 1999, is seemingly aware of what the current state of affairs is and has called the shots on this release. Where I personally believe Zahn’s direction is more towards “Shock Doctrine”, Ruskin has taken from the pool of tracks offered by Dustin Zahn to Blueprint and favored his “Take the Throne” tinged tracks and selected those tracks with a more big room aesthetic. According to Dustin Zahn on this release.
“My mind set at the time for the big room stuff was to harness the big room energy but in more of a mental way. A lot of big room techno seems to do what it needs to do, but I’m usually left missing some sort of artistic slant or fresh coat of paint. I tried for that and whether it works or not is up to the listener.”
With all that in mind let’s take a look into the meat of tracks…What strikes me as new for the release in comparison to other Dustin Zahn releases is a big deep dive into FM synthesis, as the lead tones seem to be similar to what the Elektron Digitone does best, especially in filtering, and there is a lot of exploration in that on this release as the first track on the EP and title track “Hand Over Control” makes it the centerpiece. As you can hear, the metallic deep tones are matched within the bass and layered with filtered bits. The track makes for solid layering in a DJ set and holds its composure with a stern restraint heading into the main beat of the track. While not going overboard with the big room concepts, they are definitely there.. tastefully blended with solid grooving techno hats high above, and we have hidden hypnotic details below which you definitely miss if you are just skipping through.
“Rising Tides” goes deeper into disembodied FM synthesis filtering and harmonizing the main arpeggiated element which creates the dissonant tension to the track while you ache to explore what’s around it. The elements build, and as the track progresses, it’s a framework to build tension around this druggy lightly modulated arp line… after awhile, you’re just deep within it and you ask yourself, “are we raving face now?” yes, certainly we are.
In “Studio 5/4” definitely the most massive track on this EP commanding some serious attention with the syncopated analog bassline and sci fi laser hits and splashy reverb to the sky, creating a low key epic feeling. That patented Dustin Zahn groove is tightly locked in place along with your clenched fist and upturned corners of your mouth. Definitely a pick for some serious Midwest monolith soundsystem rocking.
“Wet Hot Heat” seems to give a bit of the nod to Robert Hood’s Rhythm of Vision or Tresor 3 era minimalism and it’s a welcome bit of jack to the EP. Minimal and jacky beats are nothing new for Dustin Zahn, as we all know the lead up beat to “Walk Alone” is absolutely monumental…but it’s rare to see a full study on classic minimalism by him. It’s nice to see what a Dustin Zahn track would sound like if he was releasing in 94/95.In closing, we can all safely say that no matter what, Dustin Zahn delivers, and a premier on Blueprint is a great call by James Ruskin. Zahn’s current trends and focus fit perfectly with the ever advancing vision of the Blueprint label, and I’m personally stoked for this release. It’s worthy to note, as another trend, Soundsystem culture is growing pretty heavy in the US at present.. Midwest style systems spurred by DVS-1 and Midwest techno heavies like Dustin Zahn are following in lockstep with that future. So break out your Danleys, EVs, Void stacks in your cornfields n’ warehouses and try to keep up.
-Sean Ocean
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