Berlin-based Lars Huismann makes the jump from his streak of successes on Mutual Rytm to Dax J’s Monnom Black imprint with a mini album full of Tribal Techno-focused stormers on his latest offering, the “Mechanized” EP.
There’s been a lot of talk of Hardgroove techno over the last few years. Lots of love has been thrown the way of Ben Sims and Mark Broom supporting the funky sample-heavy genre. But there hasn’t been much talk of its other groove-based cousin, Tribal Techno, that blends so well with Hardgroove and the standard dark and deep techno, that it essentially is a bridging element between all forms of techno.
Back in the day, everyone used to champion it. Most notably, Jeff Mills and his Purpose Maker series, the Mankind Label, were a strong proponent of it, and Oliver Ho just went mental with the concept. Where is it today? Thankfully, Lars Huismann has you covered with this 909-forward EP, which almost could be considered a mini album. It is ultimately more like an EP, since there’s no central conceptual focus other than to bang out as many hard and driving cuts as possible.
This “Mechanized” EP is entirely, and without question, completely danceable, classic sounding, and rich with unique ideas. Huismann’s Mutual Rytm Trilogy “Sounds from the Past” poked at the idea of bringing old ideas from 20 years ago into the light but with modern-day ideas and fusing them with unique interpretations, and 2020’s aesthetics. It seems that here too, the artist has capitalized on that very same concept, yet he’s really feeling at home in this foundation and taking it to new places. There are standardized placements of the 909 cymbals on tracks like Dominion, Orbital, and Claws that utilize that very typical late 90s pitched crash/ride/open hat carry for tension. Then, there are the claps on the 5 and 13th step of the 16-step 909 sequencer, which post-2008 may have rarely been seen with such prominence. The tribal groove foundation is very much based on a hand drum syncopation present in a lot of older tribal techno styles.
So what’s going on here? Why is Huismann so eager to dredge up the past when techno is supposed to be a futuristic and forward-thinking genre? Well, for starters, it’s a long-proven concept, and we know it works. Secondly, people weren’t around back then to appreciate what was once de rigueur and commonplace and are now hearing it for the first time. Lastly, it just sounds classic. Make no bones about it, this is proper techno and how it should be, no arguments anywhere to be had about that. But, as previously mentioned, this is just a vehicle for the artist to push his own style and conceptual ideals. It’s a strong base of familiarity within which to slip in the unfamiliar.
Give people what they want, but also give them something new, which any real artist knows is the best way to evolve the culture. You can’t just break punters off from left field all cold. It’s the spoonful of sugar for the medicine, or it’s Bill Graham giving you Jefferson Airplane but also Ravi Shankar on the same bill.
Some examples of these gems are to be had in the dissonance in “Functions,” the filtered echo aux sent on “Dominion,” the absolutely disorienting resonant synth in “Orbital,” and it just goes on down the list. Each track on the EP is hiding something fresh and original, while the techno beat is strong, well crafted, and chugging along. The balance of which is more favoring the familiar than the abstract… though it might be fun to see where Lars Huismann takes the abstract vs the familiar in the future. Will we see a further abstraction of 90s/00s techno ideas? It’s an interesting conceptual challenge that a lot of people are looking at, especially when you have people like Ben Sims always trying to push forward the Hardgroove concept in futuristic ways and with Chris Liebing and Missile Records doing remixes of old tracks.
Where Huismann takes these ideas is anyone’s guess, but in the meantime, we’re over here tearing up the dance floor.
-Sean Ocean
Check out Dirty Epic music recommendations here.
Listen to our podcasts here.
Find out more about our Events here.
Listen to our review picks here.
