Madrid-based PWCCA, aka José Chacón, once again represents the Iberian Techno sound on Lewis Fautzi’s label Faut Section, delivering dark, dirty, and distorted Techno cuts on “Death Row of Artists”.
Faut Section continues to keep an ear to the ground for the artistic side of Techno but welcomes all input. In general, the sound of Faut Section as of late has been dark and groovy with just enough sound design to be supremely forward-thinking. That’s definitely the case here on “Death Row of Artists”, as PWCCA continues to push his own bread and butter of dark and distorted sounds as previously featured on labels like MORD, Warm Up, Nachtsrom Schallplatten, and Newrhythmic to name a few.
What’s striking in this release is the use of distortion as a tension element. Instead of using a specific instrument, like a high hat or synth line, for the uncomfortable itch to be scratched in the song, the distortion is seemingly baked into a specific element or a particular part of an instrument is band-passed and sent to a bus for more distortion or irritation. This is particularly noticeable across “Tracking Failure”, where the main arpeggiated or sequenced synth line we can assume has a piece of its envelope sent somewhere in the mix to be destroyed with resonance and drive, thus adding drama to what could be a just a matter-of-fact and simple, minimal Techno track. But with the addition of this little bit of sound design, nothing is in place for very long, and everything pulls against this static line—or what is alluded to as a line on your screen from a bad VHS tape head. Similarly, the title track “Death Row of Artists” has this really overpowering intensity to the synth that it might be hard to take unless you’re just desensitized and numb to it. In a sense, it is literally awesome, but the distortion makes the looming presence in the track so overwhelming, you just have to succumb to it.
There’s a different turn with this idea used in “Detention Center” in that the drums have this distressed layer as a thickening agent, and the piercing synth hits in the back of the drums provide an alienating sound so that you get a sense of apprehension from it. The title suggests that this apprehension and alienation is a place of confinement, and it’s not the usual welcoming embrace you get from Techno where it immediately rushes to the tonic or root of the track, in the kick or the bass. The track is continually putting you into a place of unfamiliarity and holding you there indefinitely.
“Escape from Confinement” is certainly a relief from the previous concepts, but the ripping distortion on the chords still sits uneasily with the listener, and the chord pattern continually questions without any sort of resolution.
All in all, if you want to have an uneasy listening experience, or you’re just sick of anything easygoing and digestible, like Lo-Fi or Deep House, or if you may need an antidote to young Techno producers who are just barely making the status quo with repurposed splice loops, then PWCCA really takes you to another place entirely with this “Death Row of Artists” release.
Part of the whole Madrid and Portuguese sound in the last 5 years has really been challenging how we see Techno and music as a whole. Yet it doesn’t go so far out of the way as to be inaccessible without a lot of music theory and instrumentation like Free Jazz or more intense forms of theoretical jazz concepts. The music is still for the listener; it’s not the notes that are important, it’s the way the music interacts with the listener. In the example set on this EP, it’s the artist’s role, at least as we’ve seen in this area of the Techno world, to really shake up the listener in extreme sort of ways. PWCCA absolutely accomplishes this.
-Sean Ocean
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