Puresque: Vor Leitmotiv EP (Tresor)

If any label knows techno inside and out, it’s Tresor. After all, the Berlin powerhouse has been a mainstay in the techno community and largely responsible for spreading it through Europe since the early 90s. When Tresor comes to my mind, I usually automatically associate the name with the most bangin’ tracks from veterans like Joey Beltram, Surgeon or Jeff Mills, but the label’s roster and output has always been considerably more diverse. These three tracks by Michael Kunz (aka Mocca) and Paul Brtschisch (of Taksi and numerous other affiliations) are pretty slick and straightforward. “001A” leads things off with a dense, layered assemblage of delayed percussion and synth sounds. These sounds are piled pretty high until it sounds like it’s about to topple — the last element added is a woozy, granular melodic phrase that threatens to throw the whole track out of orbit — but the tightly wound main drum track holds it together nicely. On the flipside, "Spinnenwabe" is punchier, more direct — its bassline is the main hook, a fat, stabby synthesized loop, while "Schlaflos" has a nice swing about it while its repetitive, minimal sequencing patterns propel onward and upward for the duration, anchored by a dry, clean kick drum. All three are pretty much no-nonsense as far as clean techno goes, but my favorite is the last one, possessing a sort of elegance that gives it the upper hand.

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