- Conforce's heads-down dedication to crafting sublime melancholic techno continues with his first release of 2010, Love & Hate. The (almost) title track is worth the price of admission alone, an acid line lightly doing the business underneath dreamy pads and ticking snares. Its main theme is set out almost immediately, and there are few surprises—like much of Conforce's material—but it's hard not to be won over by the sheer craftsmanship of the endeavour. "Love Hate" sounds as if it fell off an assembly line of ambient techno.
"Land of the Highway" doesn't sound quite as formulaic, even if it doesn't do anything particularly new either. Liquid pads rise and fall, percussion gradually increases in complexity and then slips back into simplicity, synths shimmer and then slide into clear view. Its reference to the highway seems ill-suited, though: It more resembles the steady bob of the ocean.
Holding up the rear, "Stop Hold" is perhaps the hardest track of the trio. The wispy emotionalism is still there, but it has to muscle its way over a booming kick and rhythmic synth patterns that rule the track for its first three minutes. That he can find a way to balance this strength with delicacy is just one of the many reasons he's one of the most accomplished producers of this sound right now.
Tracklist A1 Love Hate
B1 The Land Of The Highway
B2 Stop Hold