The majority of people will know the name Tresor as being one of Germany’s most iconic techno clubs, but as a label, they have released music from genre topping names like Joey Beltram, Carl Craig, Robert Hood and Juan Atkins. This month the Tresor crew welcome Detroit’s Rod Modell for a brand new long-player titled Captagon, coming with 9 tracks on vinyl and 12 tracks on digital, it’s a dub-focused techno record that absolutely does not beat around the bush. It’s not an easy task to keep things
interesting across an entire album when your sounds are limited to drums, a bassline and a couple of synths, dub techno is not a genre that relies on fancy melodies or big toplines to keep the attention intact, but Modell does a great job of holding our ear here. The album is ambient and drone-like in some places and meticulous and fierce in others, giving you a gentle cuddle before going for the throat via the use of strong kick drums and stabbing, filtered synths. And it’s a masterclass on rhythm from start to finish, with tracks like Qurra and Reiki you’ll be instantly intrigued and left wanting more.
Where to start:
‘Reiki’ – Rich percussion, dreamy synth work and subtle distortion
‘Jade’ – Punchy kick drums, fizzling hats and a big dub influence
‘Qurra’ – Perfect rhythms and strong production combine brilliantly
Previous from Rod Modell:
Sacred Geometry EP (2004, Echocord)
Kettle Point EP (2003, Echocord)
If you like this then check out:
Cv313 – Fading Lights EP (2015, Rubadub)
Maurizo – M-Series (1997, Basic Channel)
Rod Modell – Captagon is out now on Tresor Records.