Top Ten 3 / 3

Top Ten 3 / 3

V/A [Level Records Duesseldorf]

9 May, 2008 | 9.33AM

• Section: Music Reviews Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: Lee Smith 2

Around about seven years ago, if you told your average dance music fan that you liked ‘minimal’ techno, they would stare back at you blankly as if you were speaking in some unintelligible language.

Now, as we all know, you can barely move for the stuff, which is all the more reason to celebrate labels like Level, who’ve stayed true to the notion that minimalism can be intelligent without being boring, and heartwarming without being saccharine. 

The small but perfectly formed Duesseldorf label already struck gold with the first two editions of its Top Ten series, with contributions from revered but under-the-radar talents like Antonelli, BVoice, Anders Ilar and Marcin Czubala defining a sound that drifts murkily between the foot shuffling focus of the dancefloor and the abstract reaches of the home-listening environment.

It’s fitting, then, that series should draw to a to a close with this sweet selection of deeply-tinged microtechno.

Poland’s SLG - who’s already impressed us with outings on Trapez, Jeff Milligan, reminds us of a time when minimalism was a decidedly intellectual sub-genre, with stripped-back beats smartly disguising complex, subtle sound design.

It’s perhaps not ideal for the big floors, but those with a taste for modern techno’s more sophisticated reaches will certainly want to check it out.

Next up, Greek producer Ekkohaus impresses with gentle pops and pulls, again inhabiting the realm between warm-up vibes and come-down gentleness.

Best of the bunch, though, is Level boss Daniel Fritsch’s hymnal remix of ‘Parcaidas’, an emotive, melodic slice of stripped back deepno which fans of Force Tracks circa 2002 will adore.

It’s a fine end to a great series - let’s hope this label gets the attention it deserves.

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