Centaspike - Bent Bound Broken

Tech Itch Recordings: 2018

Releasing albums from anonymous producers who may or may not simply be the label head in disguise is all well and good, but for any print to flourish, you need that outside blood mixing things up. Artists that share your audio vision and can also bring a different spin on the same sonic ideas. Thus it was so that Centaspike was brought into the Tech Itch Recordings fold, first as a duo with Indidjinous, then finally as a solo act with this here Bent Bound Broken.

Mr. Driver had a few self-releases under his belt prior, plying his trade for half a decade on the Aussie scene before getting picked up by Mr. Caro. Well and truly comfortable behind the console as well the decks, he'd have no problem fitting in with the Tech Itch posse. Only, what sort of d'n'b would he bring to the table? There was already plenty of dark and tech-step on hand, the assortment of releases very much following in the footsteps of Technical Itch's '90s heyday. No, to stand out, Centaspike went even darker, deeper, damn near minimalist with his debut on the label.

Seriously, opening track Beyond The Void is little more than ominous noises and feral rumbles, served as oozing black glue piecing together the various twitchy drum breaks together. But that's just track one, right? The mood setter before getting to some busier business? Yeah, no, follow-up Brokenergy is no less grimy and savage, while Conjuring Spells somehow finds an even deeper layer of murky bass festering in the dankest catacombs under London city. Cool beans and all, but I can't deny, such suffocating sounds grow a little weary when played for too long, as in the seven-minute 4th Dimensional Creatures. Let me see a little light, mang'!

Oh, a Broken Street Lamp, that'll do. Actually, this cut turned my head for two reasons. One, it gets into some slamming drumfunk action, which is a nice chance of pace, but also for the Wu-Tang chatter thrown in. In fact, Anthony pulls the trick twice, Urban Chatter raiding the skits from Enter 36 Chambers as well. How can I be so sure? C'mon, I recognize RZA's barking out for Ghost and Deck anywhere. Not to mention a little chop-socky sound effects thrown in for good measure.

After that little detour down the back alleys of Shaolin, Centaspike gets back to the down 'n' dirty business end of d'n'b, each track somehow growing ever more minimalist as the album plays out. Not that I needed some rousing climax to the record, but it does leave one's engagement slowing dwindling as momentum wanes. Then I was thrown for a loop in the Outro. Anthony not only raided 2010 for some dialogue samples that aren't “My God, it's full of stars”, but the MGM lion roar and the digital text sound effects from the movie's prologue, also while overlaying the original Requiem 'music' from 2001. Oh yeah, that definitely set off my nerdy dopamine triggers.

Voyage - Invader

Tech Itch Recordings: 2019

Absolutely I was gonna' grab me Voyage's follow-up to Genesis. That album introduced me to the extended roster of Technical Itch's own Tech Itch Recordings, and what an intro it was. Hard-hitting Amen break action right out the gate, it confirmed that darkstep from the days of yore was alive and well, and several artists I further checked out yielded many more audio rewards. In the process though, returning to Voyage's debut had me feeling it comparatively one-note and singular, almost too reverent of that late '90s sound. Which is fine, if that's what you're going for. Still, I hoped Voyage (whomever he may be, for he still hasn't provided a name online) would show some evolution whenever his sophomore effort dropped.

Well, he doesn't come out quite so hard. Invader opens up with Clarion, a more moody, atmospheric tech-step cut in the classic Grooverider vein – there's even some jazzy trumpets, though as heard from spa-a-a-a-ace. Sycophant gets back to the Amen-step business though, about as rough and tumble as anything you've heard from this genre. Some of those backing strings though, they seem awful familiar. Maybe it's just my imagination.

Anyhow, Voyage mostly sticks to tech-step's domain for the bulk of Invader. For sure it's about as aggro as this genre can ever get, with bass tones roaring like intergalactic cruiser engines while drums hit with the ferocity of a [sci-fi feral beast]. Really, the drums and bass of this d'n'b feel more in service of the general ominous mood Voyage maintains throughout the album. A few tracks stray from that, like the sparse Overdose and ultra-minimalist Electromagnetic (almost all bass and dubsteppy crackles). Some angelic voices serenade us in Serenade, Soldier gets super-tech its choice of sounds and broken beats, while Crash Site brings in some shuffly action to the Amen break. Yet again though, there's some sounds in this tune that has me reminded of an album from the distant past. Not so much a shared synth patch or whatnot, no, more specific than that.

And then it struck me when the track Diagnostics hit. You might recognize that name as the title of Technical Itch's debut album. Heck, Voyage not only apes that, but a whole bunch of sounds from the album too, primarily from that album's opener Focused, right down to the string refrains (one of the few 'melodic' moments from Tech Itch's record). Clearly this is an homage, Voyage's Diagnostics keeping things on a smooth cruise compared to Tech Itch's original. Is this track ever too on the nose for me though. Like, you could easily convince me this was just some long-lost alternate version of Focused Mark Caro unearthed.

Back to Invader, it's another solid album from Voyage, but the same issue as I had with Genesis does crop up: it's rather singular in execution. The whiplash of hearing Diagnostics also unfortunately leaves the back-end a bit of a drag, my brain forever anticipating the Tech Itch classic instead.

Technical Itch - Find Your Darkness

Tech Itch Recordings: 2020

It took over two decades, but Mark Caro finally released a proper second Technical Itch album. Yeah, yeah, he's put out several Progression Threat and Digitally Ascended LPs, not to mention so many singles that you'd need a multi-CD box-set to house all the music within. Those were all for tracks though, the sort of listening experience that, while fine as a collection of tunes, still lack that all important thematic flow the best albums have. And I know Mr. Caro is capable of it, his debut Tech Itch album Diagnostics still a mesmerizing assault of darkstep business to this day. Speaking of, when might we see a re-issue of that record? Surely rescuing it from Moving Shadow legal limbo shouldn't be this last longing?

I'm sure Mark has his reasons for not returning to the album format for so long, chief among them there wasn't much need to. He was sustaining a tidy career through singles, all the while maintaining his own labels in Penetration Records and Tech Itch Recordings. I wonder though, if the flurry of proper albums from the likes of Doom Poets, Voyage, and Brakken coming out on the latter print inspired him some. Heck, was he maybe involved in the production of those? He definitely was part of Biostacis, a mini-group that enjoyed a semi-revival in 2015. Whichever way you want to frame it, bottom line is, hey, new Technical Itch album!

And nothing states this is a Proper Album than an ambient intro. Following that, Modified Code drops us right back into familiar Technical Itch territory, crusty aggressive 2-step action with wailing synth backdrops and paranoid vocal samples. Stand Down brings on the Amen breakcore business, all the while maintaining the cybernetic sonic horror Mark's always been ace at.

All well and good, the production top notch, but what if you're kinda' yearning for something a little more retro, from the early days of darkstep? Can't deny the titular cut has my Diagnostics nostalgia triggers flaring. The 2-step and rolling bassline sound like it could have come from that album, and there's acid! 'Member when Technical Itch included a hardcore acid track on Diagnostics? Ooh, I 'member! Elsewhere, B28 and Machine Ghosts gets down on some basic groove ridin' swagger, while Alien gets all moody and minimal. Well, about as minimal as you'd expect from a Technical Itch cut. And speaking of ol' school, The Eagle's grimy vibe definitely has me feeling those classic Ed Rush & Optical vibes. Oh, you want only the latest technological advancements in your darkstep? Uh, first thing, that's not really what the Tech Itch label's about. But sure, Violent Instinct, The Angels and Belief go about as fuckin' hard as this genre allows without crossing the scenes.

A triumphant return to albums for Technical Itch, then? Ah, it's good, but not Diagnostics great. Find Your Darkness is plumb for choice cuts that are nicely sequenced, but lacks the whirlwind ride of narrative flow Tech Itch's debut had.

Doom Poets - Dead Forest

Tech Itch Recordings: 2019

It's been a year and a half since I last talked up Doom Poets on this here blog, and they remain as anonymous as ever. Actually, this project has remained mostly silent as well, only releasing singular tracks to Tech Itch Recordings' annual label showcase RESIST:ED. Seeing as how they (is this a plural they, or singular? Who can say with “distant beings from somewhere in the far regions of our universe”) initially released two albums in such short order, a little recharge had to be in order. When their brand of d'n'b is this dope though, you can forgive some folks on this mudball planet hoping for more sooner rather than later.

Of the few Tech Itch Rec' artists I've checked, Doom Poets' debut Lost Connection intrigued me the most, showing more darkstep diversity compared to others. Why, they even had ambient interludes! ...kinda'. It was enough for me to nab that second LP, Dead Forest, even if it didn't have any Drone Scans of its own. Ah, who needs those anyway, when you got deep, moody numbers like opener Fetus guiding us into album number two?

No, seriously, this track is some vintage Modus Operani Photek business, the bassline an omnipresent rumble while sparse drums clatter and paranoid ambience bleeds between the seams. A little later, Invisible Hand repeats the trick, but with more aggression, while Hexagon smooths the deep minimalism into an easy cruise. Dry Bones keeps things in a moody atmosphere, a twitchy, rumbling bassline over a standard 2-step break the main thrust of the tune as ominous strings carry on. Maybe not so much Photek in substance, but definitely in tone.

As with most of these Technical Itch associates though (or Mr. Caro hiding under pseudonyms, who's to say?), it's all about what they do with the good ol' Amen Break, and once again, Doom Poets don't disappoint. Opener Fetus may have set us off on a subtler vibe, but follow-up Bizon is all boshing darkstep business through and through. Not to be outdone, Black Tenticle and Necrophalus (eww?) head down the tech-step path, hitting just as hard even if their drum programming isn't as complex.

The rest of Dead Forest mostly plays out in similar fashion. A little Amen action (Timeloss, Feather), a little tech-step time (Sober, Skull), and that one track that throws all convention out the window. I've no clue what to classify the titular cut, some sort of massive mash-up of Amen and tech-step into a marching stomper. Like, I know associating advancing Imperial AT-ATs is a complete cliche in this genre, but damn, if it don't sound like mechanical monstrosities are advancing upon your puny hiding spots.

So all good stuff, as has been the case from everything I've heard out of Tech Itch Recordings now. Well, except that one CD from the main man himself, but that was just another one of Mr. Caro's dubstep/trap exercises. Need to get on that actual proper Technical Itch album sometime soon.

Terror Cell | Layer 3 - Coding Sequence

Tech Itch Recordings: 2020

Feels like forever since I last talked up anything from Technical Itch's label. Well over a year, by my blog's logs, but perhaps this is for the good. The drum 'n' bass from this print is so often relentless in its audio assaults, one needs a breather between sessions. Or I do, in any event. There are some hardcore deebee heads out there that do nothing but eat, breathe, and shit darkstep and all its permutations. Hardcore to the last.

After quite the flurry of artist-driven activity, Tech Itch Recordings seemed to slow down some, mostly putting out ambient 'white labels' from Mark Caro while the world figured its shit out. It looks like they're finally getting things rolling again with a slate of new CDs on the way, so that's nice. Just hopefully not too much all at once, as there's still material from before the gap commenced that I'm just now finally getting to.

Among the last of these items – maybe the last, if catalogue numbers are to be believed – is this pairing of Terror Cell and Layer 3, Coding Sequence. Neither have major Discogs presence, lacking names on their bios, which fits with Tech Itch Recordings' anonymous manifesto. At least they have pictures in their profiles. Layer 3 appears to have released a pile of DATs with MP3s throughout the '00s, while Terror Cell put out a few sporadic items in the early '10s. I kinda' get the sense these cats are more DJs than producers, and they have apparently done a few tag-team rinse outs at Tech Itch parties. Still, not a whole lot to go on for a superlative bio paragraph, so let's stop wasting time and get right into the music.

And it's definitely darkstep, as you'd expect from artists on Technical Itch's label. I mean, there wasn't much surprise from the last two acts I covered (Voyage and Doom Poets), so why would there be here? Mr. Caro has a finely tuned style, and the d'n'b producers he's taken on generally match that style. The basslines bash, the Amen Breaks crash, the 2-step rhythms mash, and the paranoid sci-fi samples smash. Not necessarily in that order.

While opener Beacon keeps things mostly on the atmospheric vibe, TC & L3 don't waste much time coming in with the aggro, follow-up Embryo about as vicious and nasty as this stuff gets. And geez, Coding Sequence doesn't let up, each subsequent track seemingly ramping the pressure up. It obviously doesn't, as I'd be spent before mid-album (some drumstep detours help), which is a testament to their production skill in hitting you just hard enough to keep wanting more. Wow, never thought of darkstep as sadomasochist.

Things do relatively wind down by albums end, the final clutch of tracks more standard ol' school tech-step. Can't deny this leaves my lingering impression of Coding Sequence a little weaker than it should. They're fine tracks, just may have been better served spaced out some. Can't really complain.

Doom Poets - Lost Connection

Tech Itch Recordings: 2018

Another Tech Itch Recordings artist with absolutely no information surrounding them. Like, at least Voyage had a photo available within Lord Discogs' archives. These here Doom Poets don't even have that. Okay, there is a tiny blurb within this album's inlay, but I'm not entirely sure it's on the up and up. Do you believe they're distant beings from the far regions of the cosmos, transmitting their first recordings to us inhabitants of the third rock from Sol? Could really use some photographic evidence these beings are legit.

Actually, the rumour goes these may be old associates of Technical Itch himself (maybe himself?) but also chose the path of anonymous purity in releasing music on Mr. Caro's print. In fact, this is an entire manifesto by several folks coming into the Tech Itch fold, releases from others like Brakken and Freed From The Lair also choosing to remain hidden behind project aliases. So a bunch of that theory I blagged on about in the Genesis review (no, the other one; no, the most recent one) is true! That hasn't stopped a few producers with a few details in their Discoggian bios from joining the blanked-face party, and there will always be the main man of the label around too. Just fascinating that, in the half decade since embarking on this project, these chosen few have maintained their mystery manifesto.

So while I generally liked Voyage's album, I cannot deny it being a little one-note overall, serving up brash darkstep from the drop and hardly relenting throughout. Doom Poets opt for something a little more conceptual, breaking Lost Connection up into several segments interspersed with Drone Scans. Ah cool, you think, ambient doodle interludes to break up the monotony. Except, these are far from 'doodles', each lasting between three-to-four minutes in length, fully formed tracks in of themselves, if you'd consider dronescapes with an intermittent thudding beat a track. Given how they're evenly spaced out too, it makes me wonder whether Lost Connection had a vinyl roll-out in mind, each Drone Scan the start of a record side. Alas, no vinyl roll-out, at least not yet. Maybe if the follow-up album Dead Forest moves enough units?

Not to say Doom Poets are some 'dolphin jungle' producers – we are still dealing with Tech Itch Recordings here. Proper opener MFOS is just as big, brash, and menacing as darkstep can get. That's followed by Agony though, a minimalist, feral tech-step workout, then Brighter Days, a pure Amen break workout with moody atmospherics in support. After a Drone Scan, we get a couple more sinister sci-fi darkstep tracks, Drone Scan, and you're sensing a pattern now, right?

This all works in Lost Connection's favour though. A long-player with unrelenting aggression needs its breathers for the hardest hitters to keep hitting hard. Even the moodier pieces like Ruby Eyes and The Triengle can feel oppressive with the overwhelming low-ends. You want d'n'b from the darkest corners of the galaxy, you got it.

Voyage - Genesis

Tech Itch Recordings: 2016

This is now the third album I have with Genesis as its title. Not the most ludicrous thing to occur, I admit; an amusing tidbit of info, nothing more. No, what makes this remarkable is the fact one of the other Genesis albums I have – care of dark ambient project Paleowolf – was released within the same month as this Genesis (December 2016). Does... does this happen often, in the world of music? I can't imagine so, even with generic titles like this one, but with so much being released all the time, the odds may be higher than anyone could imagine without studious cataloguing to confirm such statistical variances. Are there any chroniclers of Lord Discogs' tomes willing to find out? Like, what else you gonna' do during quarantine?

Forgive me for an opening paragraph that has nothing to do with the music on hand. Gotta' burn through self-imposed word count somehow when the artist leaves very little in the way of biographical info to wax the bull on. This is the fifteenth artist to take on Voyage as an alias (so sayeth Lord Discogs), with no details of who the man behind the moniker is, not even a name. Cool picture though.

Maybe it's a jolly ol' throwback to the days when d'n'b artists were all about that anonymous cred', hiding behind mysterious pseudonyms so only their music stands tall and proud. I mean, if you're gonna' make darkstep jungle that sounds as fresh as it did in the late '90s, may as well go whole hog with it. And no, that isn't a diss or a criticism. I went into Tech Itch Recordings expecting to hear tuneage in line with Technical Itch's classic menacing style, and by jove does Voyage ever deliver on that front.

Like, right off the bat. Some creepy, spacey sounds and simple tech-step rhythms warm you up in Extraterestrial, soon unleashing vicious Amen break business. Holy cow, this is just track one, and this dude's already cranked the intensity to such a threshold, it's bordering on breakcore. Follow-up track Control Blade doesn't let up, with many more coming after. Not all at once though, oh no. Voyage still finds room for some stripped-down tech-step roughness (Coma, Synchronic, Backpropagation, Immune System) and even a little stab at microfunk with GEO600 and Modified? I mean, if you want to call it that – it certainly sounds like 'minimal tech-step', so why not? Oh, and there's a hilarious attempt at injecting what I can only describe as squawking funk guitar in Dangerous Idea. Title's definitely apt there, but hey, points for trying, and the Amen bedlam elsewhere in the track is mint anyway.

But yeah, more vintage darkstep follows, and tickle me pink with how much I enjoyed Genesis. As with so many classic d'n'b genres, there's little sense in messing with what worked in the past. If Voyage is representative of the up-and-comers being featured on Tech Itch Recordings, then darkstep's future looks solid indeed.

Technical Itch - Digitally Ascended Vol. 3

Tech Itch Recordings: 2017

Technical Itch was clearly content sticking to the singles market, so I gave up hope on ever hearing another long-player from the man, Diagnostics a once in a blue moon event. Much time passes, and I feel a tingling sensation in the back of my head, like a sentient nerve poking me with the question, “I wonder if Mark Caro has anything on Bandcamp?” And holy cow, does he ever, not only releasing tons of fresh material via his own label this past decade, but bringing in new artists that share his classic darkstep aesthetic. With actual physical media too, including CDs! Hot damn, I gotta' get me in on some of that action, but it seems the only hard-copy item currently available from Technical Itch himself is this Digitally Ascended Vol. 3. Whatever, it's gotta' be dope, the man incapable of wrong after such a storied career!

And... he's taken a stab at trap. *sigh*... When will I learn?

Personal petty petulance aside, I'm not tut-tutting Technical Itch here. Doing a modicum of research would have clued me into the fact that this Digitally Ascended series was started way back in 2009 as a means for Mr. Caro to explore that trendy dubstep thing going on, and carried on with other stabs at the slower, grittier side of bass music; for the d'n'b purists, he had the Progression Threat series. Some time in the mid-'10s, he started rolling Tech Itch Digital material into the parent label Tech Itch Recordings, finally offering hard copy options for stubborn holdouts (*cough*). Digitally Ascended Vol. 3 was the first of his own releases to come out during this phase, hence why it was the first Tech Itch item I saw available as CD. There's promise of more to come though, oh yes.

And you may be thinking, what's the big deal about Tech Itch branching out? Nothing at all, but this is one of those cases where his top-notch production doesn't fit the sound he's trying. Trap is all about stripping things down to bare essentials, the most rudimentary drum sounds available from your 808 emulator. In Mr. Caro's hands though, with his menacing widescreen atmospherics, these drum tracks end up sounding like demos or, at best, something from the halcyon days of audio bass sub-whoofer stress testers. The dubstep tracks are only marginally better, in that they aren't far removed from what the genre did sound like in its infancy.

Fortunately, Digitally Ascended Vol 3 offers surprisingly more variety than the early portions of the album suggested. There's a couple dark ambient tracks here (August Ends, Separka), for all your psychological thriller needs. Elsewhere, Rememberance edges as close to tech-step as this series would probably allow, while the final two cuts (Strangest Form Of Magic, Touched By The Gods) have more a trip-hop vibe going for them. Good stuff, just a shame the comparatively under-produced first half of the album sours a full listening experience for me.