06 10

Bill Converse The Shape Of Things To Come Dark Entries

07.07.17

Dark Entries may be best known for reissues of obscure industrial, wave and other cult synth concerns, but the San Francisco label also supports a clutch of modern artists that adhere to the same principals of hardware-driven sonic deviance.

Bill Converse suits the label’s preference for shadowy producers tucked away from the thoroughfare of any given scene. Now based in Austin, Texas, but with roots in the Midwestern rave scene, Converse has seemingly worked on his craft in relative solitude while bearing the influence of his formative years.

Chicago and Detroit certainly loom large in Converse’s vocabulary, but this, his second album, veers far from standard techno territory. Threshold’s straining acid lines, dissonant metal clangs and drunken beat evoke a dark corner of the 1980s, but by contrast Position Of Home rains down a brightly coloured cascade of optimistic, noisy synths that sound positively modern. The push and pull central to Converse’s appeal is apparent from the off – the piano chords and strings that cut through on opening track Thank You provide a neat foil to the gnarly acid techno backbone.

Armed with strangely langorous tracks that still thump hard and send your mind to strange places, The Shape Of Things To Come proves there’s still scope for originality with grizzly dance music made on old gear.