- Berlin-based techno label Stroboscopic Artefacts was already a label that seemed obsessed with its dark and mysterious image, matched nicely to its fashionable space-age techno. But its newest thematic project is almost adorably convoluted; the MONAD is a series of digital-only EPs that apparently wrestles with some sort of alternative origin story. "From the Monad evolved the Dyad; from it numbers; from numbers, points; then lines, two-dimensional entities, three-dimensional entities, bodies, culminating in the four elements earth, water, fire and air, from which the rest of our world is built up." How that exactly relates to the music is questionable, but in the end it's all just an excuse to unleash more pounding techno that borrows as much from early Peacefrog as it does Ostgut Ton.
Singaporean producer Xhin handles the series' third release, four lengthy techno tracks that uncoil themselves into ghostly and transparent strands, shining brightly in a pitch black vacuum. Opener "Mind" is a series of thumping electronic charges that culminate in bursts of static; pulses of energy eventually split the track wide open, allowing a muscular beat to take over and the periodic noises to bleed through to all sectors. The entire EP is of a similar mind, but the minor variations prove captivating: The industrial, channel-hopping clank and clack of "Key" and its tunneling bass riffs as well as the ultra-slow sonar techno of "Seed" provide alternate takes on the EP's tingly charge.
Despite their length, these aren't just grinding tools. There's a definite point A to point B thing going on here. The sleek and stylish quality of these tracks is perhaps their downfall, as Xhin doesn't seem to have a distinctive sound nailed down quite yet—it's hard to say there's anything particularly "Xhin" about these four productions. But when he brings in those hi-hats halfway through "Mutate" only to gradually clip and reduce them into nothingness, I'm swooning regardless.
Tracklist 01. Mind
02. Key
03. Mutate
04. Seed