- Russ Gabriel is a legend of UK techno. He founded Ferox Records, which released dozens of well regarded records in the nineties before falling silent in the year 2000. As a producer, Gabriel has also built up an impressive discography of 12-inches, albums and remixes that stretches from 1992 until about 2002 when he apparently got a bit disillusioned with the bosh-bosh techno that was popular back then and retired to Frankfurt. In short, Russ Gabriel is top shelf stuff.
Now did that sound in any way authoritative? I hope not, because the truth is that I’d never heard of Russ Gabriel until last week. In my defense, I only started listening to techno this century, and the techno coming out of the UK for the last few years just hasn’t been very good (go on, admit it), so somewhere along the line I must have decided that it made sense to just ignore the whole country. Well, it turns out ‘90s UK techno producers were pretty good, judging by this 12-inch, which turns out to be Gabriel’s first in five years. What a comeback it is.
Both sides of this excellent 12-inch are all about the build. The A-side ‘Reperholung’ is the more upbeat of the two, rising with a skipping rhythm and long Carl Craig strings to somehow just hang there for twelve minutes. It’s very Detroit techno, but there’s also something plain and unadorned about it, too, a simplicity which nicely recalls fellow British Isles producers like Mark Broom or Donnacha Costello.
But the B-side ‘Three Fifty One’ is even better. Again twelve minutes long, this one is about very calmly and very deliberately modulating two synth riffs over and over until you’re completely lost in the music. Not quite dub techno, not quite Detroit, not quite minimal, it’s one of those rare and useful records that creates its own atmosphere, which is understandable really considering that Gabriel has been doing this since 1992. Anyway whatever you call it, it’s unusual, it zones you out, and it’s an essential listen.
Nice to meet you, Russ Gabriel.
TracklistA Reperholung
B Three Fifty One