MERVEILLE & CROSSON

DRM (Visionquest)

14/20

When creating a techno album there has to be variation, a journey for the listener to discover. In DRM, we get that. The opening three tracks slowly draw you into tropical sounds and some well-engineered acoustic samples. Warped claps, not too dissimilar to the ones so well utilised by young Nicholas Jaar, are peppered throughout and there’s a groove that will be familiar to anyone who’s experienced Visionquest or Cadenza as they build an atmosphere for their revellers. Crosson and Mereville gently, subtly ease you into their nine tracker, building melodies and exploring the far reaching-ends where broken jazz and techno meet.

The use of instrumentation is simple and experimental in its nature, akin to Four Tet’s less dance-worthy efforts. The best example of this is At The Seams featuring Banana Lazuli and Arthur Simonini (who we also find earlier on in the album). There is a more club-worthy middle section, with Again and Again – featuring the unmistakable touch of NRP’s Greg Paulus – proving the standout track of that ilk. But it’s really only on the title track where the pair move away from the experimental mantra that has been present across all other tracks. An album this certainly is, and it’s also very ‘Visionquest’ in its essence with experimentation under the broad flag of techno at its core; 4/4 lit up by a strong use of sonic frequency exploration, musicianship and, above all, playfulness.

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Words: Tom Wilshire