Developer - Trade Beliefs

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  • While Developer (real name Adrian Sandoval) has been DJing in his native Los Angeles since the early '90s, only recently has he hit his stride as a producer. In the past two years he's released most of his music through Modularz, his own label which has also featured material from the likes of Silent Servant and Fanon Flowers. Trade Beliefs marks Developer's debut on the Spanish label Semantica and shows off his tougher take on 4/4 techno, with reduced, pummeling drums working their way through all four tracks. Clocking in at over eight minutes, "Trade Beliefs" rolls on and on (and on) until halfway through, when a noir-ish chord begins to strike on every other beat, suspending an anxious melody that rises up in the track's waning moments. "Brujas" also shows a penchant for drawn-out melodies, but this time the riffs are even tougher as they bounce among skittering bits of percussion. On the flip, final track "Sin Luz" underwhelms; it's too static, especially compared to "The Uncertain." That one, a dynamic blend of sixteenth-note shakers and funky distorted grooves, is the record's best moment. It's a nice expansion of Developer's sound, and it offers further proof that Semantica—which, at six years old, now boasts almost 50 total releases—is one of underground techno's most consistently eclectic imprints.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Trade Beliefs A2 Brujas B1 The Uncertain B2 Sin Luz
RA