- Sven Weisemann is labeled a dub techno producer almost as often as he's called a deep house producer, and those aren't two genres usually mistaken for each other. But one listen to a track like "Emphasized" makes it clear where the confusion comes in. Sputtering to life on barebones percussive elements, "Emphasized" subsists on a single chord that sounds like a sawed-off accordion as Weisemann orbits earthier elements around it: bongos, finger snaps and a gently slicing kick actually initiate the track's graceful ascent. The chord's fragmented and unpredictable stutter is reminiscent of Brendon Moeller, but all bets are off when the rhythm section dissolves and makes way for a stirring string section. Rewired completely, the chord progression maps out a firmer, more resolved course, and it's all manner of cheek-caressing bliss as a piano floats in to complete the stunning arctic pastoral.
Less emotional, "Caprice" bobs on a dubby skank and finds melody in delayed echoes and outbursts, the repetitive reggae ripple proving hypnotizing as solid bits of wooden percussion worm their way out of the track's constantly melting core. Quite similar to his previous releases on Mojuba—the label that has arguably housed his best material—these tracks are icier, sparer, as if clouds have rolled in on Weisemann's otherwise imperturbably gorgeous world.
Maybe it's the influence of more self-serious projects like the ambient piano experiment of his Xine album, but you won't find the disco inflections of "Kiss of Abana" here. However, the core of Weisemann's sound hasn't changed all that much, and that the Berlin-based producer can still make such brilliant tracks out of the same building blocks he's used for years is beyond reasonable expectation. Never mind that he employs the most saccharine and obvious melodies and new age sounds without provoking the ever-present cynic we all have buried deep within: Weisemann's techno wizardry remains all his own, and his greatest feat is not the blurring of genres but making them seem immaterial in the first place.
Tracklist A Emphasized
B Caprice