Traversable Wormhole - Sublight Velocities

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  • After minimal took over and swept him under the rug in the 2000s, Adam Mitchell's industrial techno made a big comeback in 2009 with Traversable Wormhole. Sublight Velocities is his first original Traversable Wormhole music since 2012, and the first 12-inch outside of his ten-volume, self-titled series. It's also released by Dominick Fernow's Hospital Productions, rather than Mitchell's own label or CLR. But that says more of Hospital's move towards techno than any abrasive makeover for Traversable Wormhole—Sublight Velocities isn't a departure for the project. Both tracks balance the rigidity of brutalist techno with a broken beat swing. "Sublight Velocities" has a great kick pattern to begin with, so the metallic hammering that doubles its rhythm only makes it more hypnotic, while bright, bleepy FX add a sci-fi edge. "Semiclassical Gravity" is more patient and restrained, tapping into the moodiness of Mitchell's work as ADMX-71 as it keeps Traversable Wormhole's core elements—such as chords that sound like someone banging on a toolshed—intact. Thankfully, this record captures what made Mitchell's project so riveting the first time around.
  • Tracklist
      A Sublight Velocities B Semiclassical Gravity
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