- The Future EP is the first in a new series of limited edition, dance floor-oriented twelve-inches from the Public Information label. It comes courtesy of Portugese producer Ivo Pacheco, whose work as IVVVO gained wider attention with a release for Opal Tapes last year. This EP is an extension of the melancholic interpretations of dance forms found on that release, but this time around Pacheco has refined his approach and given it a more direct conceptual slant. Like V/Vm's The Death Of Rave and Lee Gamble's Diversions 1994-1996 before it, this record purports to be in mourning for the lost golden era of rave. But while it's difficult to miss the memo—three of these tracks feature the word "rave" in the title—the furtive techno on offer only rarely displays the sonic calling cards of that particular genre.
Granted, there's a fair bit of vinyl crackle on display (the percussion on "Future" seems largely built out of it). But in most cases, Pacheco seems to be looking back to earlier manifestations of the wistful in dance music. "Before The Death Of Rave"'s tart synth line has something of an AFX flavour, while the glassy, ungainly melodies of "Under Grey" recall Amber-era Autechre. The gorgeous, hiss-encrusted piano sketches that round off each side, meanwhile, fall neatly between Drukqs' prepared piano studies and The Caretaker. Whatever its progeny, this is music of unusual, subtle beauty, making for a release whose ambiguities are amplified, rather than resolved, with each listen.
TracklistA1 Darkness In My Soul
A2 Before The Death Of Rave
A3 Rave Pt 1
B1 Future
B2 Under Grey
B3 Rave Pt 2