Disquiet

It’ll be interesting to track the response to Alta Infidelidad‘s new release on the Thinner netlabel, Cactus y Volcanes (thinner.cc). Will it appeal to fans or detractors of the sort of music that Thinner usually traffics in, a realm of gently percolating minimal techno that for all its attention to detail would, often as not, sound right at home in a fashionable boutique, or backing up a stylish TV advertisements that aim to conflate high-minded consumerism with philosophical repose. What distinguishes Cactus y Volcanes is how despite initial appearances, it’s minimal techno constructed from broken beats. There’s nothing wrong with your MP3 player. It’s just been highjacked and taken to the outer limits of what some techno fans might find palatable. And by doing so, it meets fans of experimental music more than half way: a measure doesn’t go by that doesn’t seem ready to disrupt its own locomotion, a particulate sound doesn’t enter the stereo field without contributing to a dizzying haze.

By Marc Weidenbaum