Despite its plentiful beauty, nature is often rife with chaos and wrath. Techno as a genre offers a rich medium for exploring both the promises and perils of technology as another link in the chain of humankind’s natural evolution and selection process. The latest compilation from Dosis Records, “Dosis Series III”, explores these themes as well as the technological trepidations of our modern age.
Nestled near Chile’s most active volcano—Rucapillán (a Mapuche word for ‘the demon’s house’)—is the city of Pucón, where Dosis founder Sam Wilson begins his artistic journey. Pucón is a cold place where deep and hypnotic Techno barely exists outside of the local scene that Sam began cultivating in 2019 with his event series, Blackspot. Growing a grassroots movement from the ground up is no easy task, but Sam’s vision resonated with the underground Techno community in Chile by showcasing the talents of emerging artists from Argentina, Colombia, and even as far away as Germany and Spain. Now successfully established, Sam expands the Blackspot project to the country’s capital city, Santiago. Once a month, Blackspot parties become a must-go for serious Techno lovers in the area.
In 2021, Sam created Dosis Records as an independent platform for himself, his friends, and Chilean artists on the same wavelength searching to share their music and develop their craft. Following 3 years of over 24 releases, 26 podcasts, and counting from artists all over the world, Dosis is firmly rooted in the Latin American underground Techno scene, with seeds sprouting in Europe and the UK, where Sam is currently based.
Sonically, the label explores the more moody, ambient, and atmospheric electronic textures akin to sister labels such as Semantica, Affin, The Gods Planet, Edit Select and Non Series, or artists like Blazej Malinowski, .VRIL, Joachim Spieth, Kangding Ray, Claudio PRC, and Tangerine Dream.
For first time listeners to the Dosis catalog, look no further than this latest VA compilation focusing on darker, dance floor-oriented tracks from several must-know underground Techno artists. Although darkness is a descriptor that is often associated with Techno, even the color black has its various shades and hues. There is an almost cosmic or alchemical approach to the darkness present on this and other Dosis releases, with intermittent sonic doses of sinister textures and just the right amount of ominous moodiness. Even the artwork of each release is reminiscent of the dystopian surrealism of Zdzisław Beksiński and Max Ernst.
The opening track, “Mutar,” by Buenos Aires Under Club resident Cia Rebeck has distorted kicks, dissonant melodic loops, throaty synth growls, and an uneasy background soundscape perfect for a horror movie soundtrack. Argentine artist Dangelo returns the energy to a steady equilibrium with “Encephalogram”, whose low-end sounds like listening to the rhythm of a raver’s brain waves synching with the strobes and pulsating sub-bass. Jose Monsalve explores the sharp, shiny, and shimmery darkness of obsidian on “Unravel”, and Lakej lays down the power hammer leaving nothing but sooty dust on “Phoresis”.
“Dosis Series III” closes out with two more twisted and gnarly numbers starting with a collaboration between label boss Sam Wilson and his close friend Bruno Ledesma on “Typhon”, and finally closing with Scottish artist Motion Symmetry’s minimalistic yet mesmerizing “Nohoru”.
Sam Wilson of Dosis Records has a vision that dark, dreamy, and cosmic shades of Techno can create meaningful, transformative, and healing experiences on the dancefloor. This latest VA compilation is well worth the listen.
-Alex Dahm
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