Australia-based Albert Chiovenda has gathered around friends and collaborators to rework a clear vinyl 10” release of his own “Dwelling Place” EP released in 2021 on Affekt Recordings. This time combining the voices and styles of Stanislav Tolkachev, Inigo Kennedy, and Kessell with his own to produce a strong EP of deeply grooving, hypnotic, and soul-stirring techno.
This underground DJ and producer from Sydney has been a staple in his own city under the name XXX, releasing a string of freshman techno releases under his own name since 2018 and slowly gaining momentum and fans to the present day. His collaborator list includes Bas Mooy, Tolkachev, and more recently on this EP, Inigo Kennedy and Kessell.
The original “Dwelling Place” 3 tracker 10” vinyl release has all the elements laid down to provide a substantial and personal artistic solo EP. In fact, there’s not much of a substantial rework going on in the rework EP here other than allowing each remixer to take the parts and give them an edge or touch of their personality, thus allowing each of the artists to imbue their secret sauce into each mix.
With Tolkachev’s rework of “Somnium”, it may be hard to tell, but it seems to be a mash of elements from “Undulating Terrain” and “Cluster”. It pulls things back to simpler elements and has a flatter presence than the crunchy and distorted bass line from “Undulating”. It also has the spacey blips of “Cluster” throughout. As a result, it creates a track that once you stick with it, your mind dives in and you’re rewarded and welcomed into this slowly evolving world Chiovenda and Tolkachev have built.
Inigo Kennedy has been on the remixer front for a couple of years now, so it’s been nice to see his input and voice in a little bit of everything these days. Once you start looking for the aspects of the Kennedy approach it becomes super recognizable. The original “Dwelling Place” track was an intimate and close statement by Chiovenda. The absolute best choice to give it the love it deserves is to let the track sit in the hands of Inigo Kennedy here. You will be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful treatment of this pensive and reflective track than he has given; simply superb.
Kessell’s remix of “Cluster” is the surprising standout of this “Dwelling Place” EP Rework since it doesn’t add very much to the original, but the overall subtlety and compression as well as the tension within the grooves make it a very compelling piece of techno; you really can’t put your finger on why it’s so attractive. Maybe it’s the overall simplicity with its flat and not in-your-face distortion, or maybe it’s the polyrhythms in little elements behind the scenes really driving the track. In front of a massive stack of speakers, this track would be pretty mental. The brilliance of this rework is hidden within a few subtle tweaks and the ultimate feeling of control that Kessell provides.
Rounding it up and A/B-ing the original 2021 release from Albert Chiovenda and the reworks from these three artists really gives great insight into the mindsets and artistry of these individuals. In a world where everyone just wants to produce copycat techno that’s simply competent and passing at best, there’s still some who are really doing something that represents what makes techno one of the most important genres in underground music to date. And that is having a style, personality, and a love for music. These things make techno great and it is all over this “Dwelling Place (Rework)” EP.
-Sean Ocean
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