Alexander Kowalski revives an original alias, DisX3, to appear on Croatian label Out of Place Records. On his Shattered EP, he features two original tracks, and The Lady Machine and Denise Rabe each contributing a remix. One hears cold hard techno with rhythms formed of brushed steel and thick, fragmented glass.
Some of DisX3’s earliest output was featured as a 4 tracker of quality techno off Tresor, inspired by his live sets in the original Berlin club location in the late 90s and early 00’s. Eventually DisX3 left the name behind and went on to pursue more melodic and soulful techno excursions on Kanzleramt under his own name Alexander Kowalski where the vibe of the late ‘00s and early ‘10s was left more open to this larger groove based “song mode techno.” As time wore on, there was a greater need to pursue his roots in harder techno. It’s good to hear this return and DisX3 seems to be anchor the artist back to the abstract concepts that garnered him a fan base among the underground.
The “Shattered EP” comes out on Insolate and Volster’s Croatian imprint Out of Place, which has been gaining some traction with Developer, Anne, and Milton Bradley to name a few. Alexander Kowalski has a firm grasp on what the DisX3 project means to the last detail, and the results are satisfying. The remixes, by The Lady Machine, and Denise Rabe are welcome interpretations on the originals whilst identifying the core principles of each track in “Shattered Part 1” and “Shattered Part 2.”
First track by DisX3, “Shattered 1” sees DisX3 laying down exactly what he knows about techno. It’s well-trod territory and every aspect is familiar and does not come without great knowledge of what their impact can do to a track. The overall characteristic of the track is flat and even layered like stacked panes of glass. The EQ ranges of each element are well separated, perhaps band passed. Each element is well compressed. The synths have a poly meter motion to them while the 909 holds court over the rest of elements in the track in reverb. The 5 minute mark DisX3 delivers one of the most satisfying and original parts of the track, with an absolutely crushed and filtered drum loop that knocks the wind out of you. A dramatic way to provide a warning cue for the track’s ending.
In the remix of “Shattered Part 1” by The Lady Machine, she immediately opens up the dynamics of all the elements and adds a heavily modulated synth line worming its way though the top. The release on this element creates tension before coming back to the beat in the break. The top end synth also hints at exploding glass shards flying out and returning together. Lady Machine also has chosen to create warping on some of the elements such as the bass line to make them sound more warbled. Solid take on a great track.
“Shattered Part 2” has DisX3 creating a more sinister and dark feeling with a growling and restrained low bass synth matched with a sinister atmosphere and hypnotic disassociating 32nd note hat in echo that really takes your mind directly into the track. The high resonant squelch of the the top end of the 303 really adds that grain that the track and helps add this kind of therapeutic noise bathed in reverb. Again all the layers are well divided and compressed but there’s a ton of thought put into all the elements and how they interact, especially in how the high hats are subtly tweaked and modulated. Lovely to get lost in this well woven tapestry.
Denise Rabe’s version of “Shattered Part 2” has the least end synth replaced by a broken static kick and droning bass. The noise from the 32nd note element is the tension from the top end and it is modulated well in a reverb blanket. Soon a new synth line is filtered in progressing and returning in dissonant steps to create this cold dystopian vibe. A very unique synth in terms of sound design terms is put in to match it. This synth is well modulated and it appears at times to be resampled and time stretched to create a chirping sound effect. The timestrestching and resampling, is something that that is not often done in techno but follows through with the broken glass concept; smaller elements of the whole but broken to sharp little pieces for tension. Full appreciation for Denise Rabe’s cold wave, dark ambient and dark wave take on this track as these concepts really take DisX3’s sinister vibes and cold and metallic feelings into new places.
The EP is a firm step in the direction of progressing the concept of DisX3 as a project. The roots of the name and the ideas within it are taken down to the core knowledge of what functions within a great techno track. With a track like “Shattered 2” we see DisX3 gaining speed and this feels like something that is only a hint as what is to come..something dark, well thought out, underground, with reserved and sinister strength that comes with many years of knowledge of how techno works. The future of the DisX3 seems like a real labor of love and where the focus of Alexander Kowalski currently lays. You would do well to pick up this release and future releases under the DisX3 name.
-Sean Ocean
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