Nothing puts life back in the groove quite like playing live. In a pairing of two total legends, Trovarsi and ALX-106 team up to drop some hard-slapping techno in the classic mold out on DC-based Black Techno Matters. And it’s got all the animation of their live sets combined with pitch-perfect production. It’s top-quality techno right when we need it: no hype, no TikTok genres, just a devastating kick from the kick.
I’ve raved repeatedly about BTM and what they’re doing with this label, and Trovarsi has been one of the stand-outs in those releases. So it’s great to see the two of them with this EP. Each one’s a banger, it’s all brisk without being “where’s the runaway truck ramp” overspeed, and it’s all just gorgeous mixed with some timeless quality to it.
Have at it. “Bad B****” is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. “Frequencies” is a classic. “Curiously Strong” might be my favorite for its spaced-out laser shots on top of an irresistible forward groove – then “Stay Toxic” goes even further out in wonderfully danceable b-side territory. STUKES drops the more industrial “Frequencies” remix that will have you begging for the peak hour slot. I really would love to play these out:
The great thing about this duo is that it unlocks a whole bunch of additional worlds of live performance and modular tips. Here’s the two in an opening set of an all-live night. (Live is definitely where it’s at now, folks.)
I love Trovarsi live, too – and here’s some Latvian warehouse darkness courtesy the Perkons from Erica, plus a ton of modules:
Then so many workshops – like this one they did with Reason and modular at ADE last fall:
I’ve made no seceret of my love for Noise Engineering; here’s Trovarsi going through those modules for Perfect Circuit modular– smart move, turning that Intellijel case upside-down, too, to put the 1U rail on the bottom:
ALX-106 has been posting stuff on his channel focused on live performance efficiency and working live.
Here, module by module, is how he works with this live rig:
It’s interesting this approach, too – using the laptop as the mixer to save space:
Oh, and if you want to hit as hard, here they are talking compression:
Good stuff. Great EP. Keep it coming.
And have a great weekend, everybody.