A personal favorite among the titans of Techno, Vinicius Honorio joins James Ruskin’s celebrated Blueprint label for his “Sem Rumo” EP.
What is it with Drum and Bass DJs that suddenly yearn for cold, hard, slamming Techno? Dax J is certainly one who found his way after being on pirate radio, Shifted was once known as Commix before getting his tracks into the ears of Luke Slater, Goldie has been hanging out with DJ Bone, and Vinicius Honorio has certainly come into his own over the last 8 years as a leading figure in the Techno scene.
How many other DnB heads are out there hiding their true colors to unleash some of the most mental techno laid to record? Honorio has often been described as a former Brazilian living in London or having been formerly of the DnB scene. But after you have your own Techno label (Liberta), release your EPs on Planet Rhythm, Harthouse, and Drumcode, and have singles on ARTS and Token for nearly ten years, it’s safe to say you’re one of ours.
If you haven’t heard the name Vinicius Honorio, you certainly have now, and that’s really no accident. The man truly knows his Techno and exactly what’s going on in order to make a top Techno track with just the right blend of moods, grace in the mixing, and tasteful atmospheres to set him apart from a great number of other producers.
A fine example of this would be on the track “Reiki,” which really does wash over you like some strange energy, but in actuality, it’s most likely frisson. The title track “Sem Rumo” also blasts this calming tension which seems like an oxymoron to say, but once you listen to the track, you know exactly what this means. This in itself is a sort of musical invention in that you’re simultaneously creating tension and resolution in the same instance. This is what techno is all about; pushing out new ideas in a pragmatic and functional sort of way.
On the flip side of the record, “Uruk” comes out disjointed and reminds one of the triangular Cuneiform hash marks on clay tablets in the way that the distorted, layered, and chorded synth spreads out on the top end on top of rigid bar lines. Indeed, even the waveform reflects this. Lastly, we have “Visions” capitalizing on the calming tension pad concept in “Sem Rumo” but also blending it with the repeating synth ideas within “Uruk.” Instead of distortion though, it’s a generous helping of reverb, delay, and filtering hinting at Honorio’s Dub Techno roots.
Summing it up and simply put, Blueprint and Vinicius Honorio hit it out of the park on “Sem Rumo” with another must-buy record, and they again complete a defining moment in Techno for 2023.
-Sean Ocean
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