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Moscow's Pro-Tez label continues to impress with its catalog of deep and/or minimal techno. Several more releases have now appeared, despite the arrival of summer; here we examine three of them. One of the newer issues under consideration is from Ukraine, more specifically from the studio of Technique & Yaroslove.
The latter of those two individuals leads us to Kiev, although Yaroslove himself was raised in quieter climes, on the Crimean peninsula. These increasing circles of influence, further from home, will be important for all of the artists under discussion here. Yaroslove, by way of example, has long since operated with success outside the context or constraints of his homeland: from the annual Ukrainian dance festival of Kazantip, he now has additional experience at functions such as Amsterdam's Dance Event and the Miami Winter Conference.
Atmospheric, almost mystical tech-house
Likewise, in the realm of publishing, rather than performing, Technique & Yaroslove's recordings have not only appeared on Pro-Tez. Punkt Vor Strich (Germany), Baile Musik (Croatia), Plastic FM (Switzerland), and other continental labels have all showcased their work. Summarizing and synthesizing these efforts, a small text now emerges in Moscow, informing us that the twosome "displays a current preference for atmospheric, almost mystical tech-house or intellectual forms of deep techno. This is the kind of dance music in which puzzling, inexplicable elements always have their place. Just as they do in a top-notch thriller..."
That reference to "inexplicability," in fact, comes courtesy of a Russian term that also means "understatement." This validation of restraint will continue. Saying less will gradually mean more.
For the new Technique & Yaroslove recording - "Velo City" - that same stripped-down aesthetic becomes what Pro-Tez calls "sharply futurist contours." It's a sonic notion epitomized by the image we see above - replete with the angular shapes of late 20-century civic architecture. The EP's artwork (with a little help from the LA Walt Disney Hall) does much to stress grey, geometrical structures over anything soft and/or sentimental. Some kind of balance is found between the subjective, even twee scale of the EP's title and the imposing, monochrome severity of public frameworks designed for bureaucracy or business.
Various moments in the collective biographies and back catalogs of these musicians speak to chilly, yet productive forms of restraint. Put differently, emotional excess is neither audible in this music nor is it evident in the sociocultural environments that gave rise to these artists. Hence the steely gaze and pitch-black glasses. A Motorhead t-shirt also makes unwanted sentimentality rather unlikely.
Chilly or standoffish understatement is equally evident in the projects with which Pro-Tez works outside of the Slavic world. Take, for example, the Austrian duo of Komaton (Tomá Ivanov and Sebastian Lehner) who have recently collaborated with our Moscow label. These two young men define their own aesthetic in terms of music that's always "short and sweet. It's compact and yet beautiful." It's a laconic style that has now pulled some more Russian collaborators into view. Put differently, the Komaton tracks designed for Pro-Tez have been remixed by both SCSI-9 and the duo of Bvoice & Khz. Artists on the label's periphery have been coaxed on stage by a familiar, appealing minimalism.
Short and sweet; compact yet beautiful
Bvoice & Khz, shown above, are a deep/techno duo represented by the very unlikely names of Vasilii Bvoice and Egor Killahertz. (We can reveal that their real surnames are Konstantinovskii and Sukharev.) Of their more notable projects during the last six years, we can certainly recommend the excellent Deepmix.ru, although both of these men have multiple and additional ties to clubs, radio stations, or online ventures around the Russian capital, such as the impressive RTS.FM.
Maksim Miliutenko (below, right) and Anton Kubikov (left) are the two figures who stand behind SCSI-9 - and offer us the other Komaton remix.
From their PR materials we read: "SCSI-9 has now been in existence for almost ten years, using Pro-Tez since 2005 to release their own work, whilst simultaneously nurturing other artists in a series of downtempo, idm, and minimal CDs. Beginning both live practice and touring a little earlier in 2002-2003, SCSI-9 now have an extensive CV behind them."
Here, among their shared musings, we discover a few more facts that start to explain the raision d'etre of Pro-Tez's minimalism. "An occasional recourse to the retro-sounds of classic sci-fi [employed by SCSI-9 in early cuts] was a good indicator of the romanticism that would drive future projects." Somewhere in smallness lay the key to long-term reverie. In search of that connection, we move on.
Gradually we learn that the tiny, angular building blocks of minimal techno become an alternative to the gaudy structures of mercantile or primetime experience. In a recent interview, Kubikov referred to that principle as "techno-romanticism." Miliutenko has defined it as the DNA of music "for people who are exhausted by excessive chords and melodies..."
Music for people exhausted by excessive chords and melodies
To some degree, this minimalism or severity is seen by SCSI-9 as a defensive stance against industry woes, too. A small, insistent sound can endure - come what may - at a time when "the vinyl record industry feels rather sickly." In the minds of Kubikov and Miliutenko, minimalism is a form of hopeful, if not romantic persistence - all in anticipation of better times (sooner or later). After all, unpredictability never fades away in fiscal practice: anything might happen! "We never know, for example, how important it is to advertise the Pro-Tez releases widely. Maybe it's not at all important! Maybe our sales will fall or, conversely, maybe they'll rise!... After all, in this business pure luck plays an important role."
In an unpredictable environment, grand forms of permanence make little sense.
By staying small - and insistent - various advantages come to light. Miliutenko said recently: "Precisely because Pro-Tez is small, we can allow ourselves various experiments - in terms of either production or marketing." Minimalism and lesser dimensions allow for mobility, adaptability, and therefore staying power.
This same, successful avoidance of risky, pompous grandeur is evident on another new Pro-Tez release, this time from Moscow's Alex Danilov: "Pool." The label defines these sounds as "superb, deep house... A robust, NY-house bassline is combined with crisp, punchy production. Plus Alex's trademark, vintage touches."
Robust, NY-house basslines combined with crisp and punchy production
During a prior visit to Danilov's catalog, we explained that the man himself defines that sound as fundamentally "melancholy. It's full of rich grooves, deep bass-lines, and light, unobtrusive melodies." His vagueness, we suggested, is a form of escape from insistent, "useful" specificity. In a world where "clarity" and "cruelty" are often synonymous - and "common sense" has little to do with charity - vagueness has much appeal.
To this day, there are almost no pictures of Danilov online. His presence is documented not by texts, but by sounds and abstract images. Thus he continues to show an enthusiasm for themes of absence and escape. Earlier we noted his brief, yet telling statement that even "the stars feel like music [to me]..." That desire to be elsewhere grows to this day, most obviously in his penchant for owls. Large numbers of drawings and photographs are still gathered online at Danilov's sites, just as they were when we first came across this musician's discography. The flock grows.
A solitary bird becomes the marker of a (possibly) social artist. That alone seems good indication of how Mr. Danilov views his output - amid the kinds of birds that shun company, spend much time alone, and are most active around dawn and dusk. Owls operate during the times "in between." Whenever specificity and clarity are weakest. This only underscores the emphases seen thus far.
Hence the minimalism of these Pro-Tez releases. There's an advantage within their understatement and restraint. There resides, in other words, a marked benefit in the miniature, yet constant variegation and vagueness celebrated by these men and their label. Within those forms of smallness lies a compact, ever-mobile multiplicity. Just in case.
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