Sad Prom - SP001 (Sad Prom)

 

Title: SP001

Artist: Sad Prom

Label: Sad Prom

Cat Number: SP001

Genre: Techno

1: Fourth Wave

2: Slave To The Algorithm

3: Automatic Garden

4: Liebestraum

5: Universe 25

On first contact with this release the feeling is of retro analogue warmth. ‘Fourth Wave’ is short, but within its lifespan it manages to conjure up an all important “looking back to go forward” dawn of time ambience that, paradoxically, allows it to spread beyond its limits. This impression is mirrored by ‘Universe 25’ which closes the release on a more strident note, but an equally emotive one. In between we have three tunes which are more stripped down, more “big room” maybe, but also not simple facsimiles of each other. ‘Slave To The Algorithm’ fuses a moody bass at one extreme and loud, cavernous synth washes at the other. Floating around in the middle is a minimalist, stripped down rave cornucopia. ‘Automatic Garden’ is another example (there’s currently a lot of it about) of where tracky Chicago house influences collide with techno. And ‘Liebestraum’ is an atmospheric piece of techno which takes its cues from the best of Juan Atkins, sounding like a lost track from ‘Deep Space’. Of course the genre is a broad church. Generally though, it’s difficult to make a techno release sound fresh right now, but Sad Prom manages to do it on this expansive collection.