When cv313 — the alias of Stephen Hitchell, one of dub techno’s most revered voices – agrees to contribute two remixes to only a producer’s second release, it signals something. Add Anthony Linell of Northern Electronics, the enigmatic Black Merlin and Berlin’s Die Wilde Jagd to the picture, and what emerges is a remarkable gathering of producers around a single piece of source material. Diese Fragile Praesenz – This Fragile Presence – on Minimood is one of those releases that earns its running time across every one of its eight versions – available now at Inverted Audio Record Store.
The release marks only the second appearance from Kelovolt, a mysterious production collaboration from unknown producers, following a remix in 2015 on Dreiklang’s First Contact EP. At the heart of everything lies Kelovolt’s original: a melancholic yet propulsive drone constructed from a field recording and drenched in white noise, around which a vast, shifting, sombre soundscape unfolds. Lush, magisterial pads and starry-eyed synth work melt in and out of the mix alongside crumbling walls of bass and distortion, rich brass-like harmonies, and long keening synth notes emerging from the fog – a journey through a wormhole of sound both monumental and fragile.
Each remixer approaches this deeply rich source material from their own distinct angle. Linell’s PM and AM remixes place a low, shadowy pulse at the centre around which mists of distortion swirl. Black Merlin steers toward eerie psychedelia. Die Wilde Jagd stretches the original into drones and heavy fog punctuated by beautifully resonant bell tones. cv313’s Gravitational Pull amplifies the celestial qualities around a deep bass groove; his Dimensional Dub descends into vast caverns of echo and alien texture.
Today we premiere Voltmar’s reinterpretation of Kelovolt’s original – turning the source material back on itself with a deeply moody, pitch-black take that deepens the grain with sharper percussion and gales of static. It fizzes and bubbles, droney and dark, coiling with mounting tension and intensity as the track plays. This is drone techno for the darkest of nights.
Diese Fragile Praesenz is available now at Inverted Audio Record Store.
TRACKLIST
A1. Diese Fragile Praesenz
A2. Diese Fragile Praesenz (Voltmar Version)
B1. Diese Fragile Praesenz (Anthony Linell PM Remix)
B2. Diese Fragile Praesenz (Black Merlin Remix)
C1. Diese Fragile Praesenz (cv313 Gravitational Pull)
C2. Diese Fragile Praesenz (Die Wilde Jagd Remix)
D1. Diese Fragile Praesenz (cv313 Dimensional Dub)
D2. Diese Fragile Praesenz (Anthony Linell AM Remix)