Ultraviolet Music

Rod Modell is a living, breathing embodiment of dub techno. Through numerous releases, under his own name as well as part of projects such as cv313, Deepchord, and Echospace, he's perfected the art of expansive, aquatic techno, creating swirling, fluid sound environments loosely framed by deep, pulsating kick drums. No stranger to lengthy, immersive works, Deepchord's 2015 double CD Ultraviolet Music is one of Modell's grandest statements, containing 21 unmixed selections clocking in at over two and a half hours. While the album never strays from its echoing, decaying chords and thumping bass drums (occasionally augmented by additional faint percussion tones) swathed in wavy layers of atmospheric hiss and fuzz, there's still a significant amount of variation throughout. "CMOS Therapy" contains submerged, rippling pianos, and a few tracks bear the faintest trace of knocking hand percussion in their drum tracks. "Sferic" has some subtly tricky bass that seems to swell up repeatedly on beat. "Melange" even features something resembling a plucked guitar melody, sounding like it's perched on the beach of an island rather than exploring the depths of the Pacific. "Bogota" traps a wayward voice inside its exuberant underwater carnival. A few tracks, such as "Radio Netherlands," hazily recall the sunny E2-E4 chords that have been the backbone of techno since its 1980s inception. The album remarkably sounds much warmer and more alive than most dub techno, subverting its typically chilling feel into something warmer and more approachable. Ultraviolet Music is a soothing, refreshing, even exciting extended journey into the deepest of chords.