- Eight tracks of Shed doing what he does best: emotive breakbeat techno.
- René Pawlowitz has put out more than his fair share of iconic techno 12-inches in the past two decades under aliases like EQD, Wax and Head High. Then, of course, there's Shed. What sometimes gets overlooked is how good he is at the album format—records like Shedding The Past and The Traveller are among the best dance music full-lengths of the post-minimal era. The 030-Files, his latest EP, is something of an idealised hybrid: a double-pack featuring eight cuts of pure dance floor business that also flows pretty well as an album. Without dipping into the specific styles of his many other aliases, The 030-Files covers a broad range of techno all held together by the Shed trademark—an enviable combination of excess and economy.
Of the eight tracks here, only "AWE," and its almost infuriatingly high-pitched sequencer that blares like an evil version of the Baltimore bed squeak, makes any gesture towards harder contemporary techno tastes. But even that one, as rigid and belligerent as it is, still has a bit of that old Shed swing underneath. "Rocket," on the other hand, is about as Shed as you could possibly get. You've likely heard this combination of bouncy drums and synths before, but there's a deeper emotional core to it. The Burial-esque, glacial chord progression is among the prettiest Pawlowitz has ever written.
Most tracks on The 030-Files lean towards the lush and melodic. "Zone" is a textural marvel, almost 3D in the way the drums hit and reverberate across the stereo spectrum, backed up by even more gorgeous sustained pads. "Cut" lands somewhere between French touch and vintage Detroit techno, and "Shot Rhythm" features a chopped-up breakbeat and ambient acid chords that could have come from a church pipe organ.
You often get the impression that Shed can turn out tracks in his sleep, such is his high hit rate and consistency. And like so many prolific dance music producers, the question can become, "How is this different than the last one?" Or, "What makes this one unique?" The 030-Files offers no easy answer, nor any clear demarcation from any other Shed record. What it does, though, is present at least seven tracks of Shed at his best, dance music that brims with emotion and bangs with power.
Tracklist01. Rocket
02. AWE
03. Shot Rhythm
04. Cut
05. Let Yourself Go
06. Zone
07. Yser
08. Shir44