Review: Conforce - Escapism

More trendster techno here, this time Escapism from Dutch producer Conforce, straight out of the uber-trendy techno label Delsin. Much like Sandwell District, this is dance music that isn't particularly danceable, trading instead on moody minimalism and understatement. Unlike Sandwell District, there aren't any mega awesome tracks, but as a whole this album worked for me a little better. It's difficult to say quite why Conforce's take on moody, low-energy techno would be more appealing than Sandwell District's. I guess there's more variety here - from eerie dystopian sounds like Aquinous Control to delicate Detroit-y optimism on Shadows Of The Invisible and Diversion, as well as more experimental sound sketches like Timelapse.

Really though, this is not a great album. It's certainly a very respectable album, a mature, credible, tasteful album. You get a lot of cool points for listening to this. But it's not great. I don't feel enough risks were taken here - there's not enough investment either in making a daring album, or a real fanatical attention to detail to elevate the minimalistic forms of these tracks into the kind of improbable depths you hear in, say, an Echospace production. This is sort of middle-of-the-road techno, it feels like a producer so careful not to ruin his cred that he doesn't push out in any particular direction. My favourite tracks are the more melodic ones, and it feels like Conforce could have made a pretty cool melodic techno album if he'd put his mind to it. The artwork is very, very cool though.

Genre: Techno
Stupid Arbitrary Rating: 7/10