AREA レコード& CD

Review: Over the past decade, Area has successfully carved his own niche within techno, delivering EPs for the likes of Kimochi, Idle Hands and Mindshift Records that combine the spaced-out hypnotism of dub techno and the sparse, locked-in grooves of minimal, with the undulating electronics of Isolee, the immersive escapism of ambient and the buzzing fuzziness of lo-fi house. Where Am I Now, Area's long-promised debut album, further explores this trademark sound, delivering a set that's as icy and impersonal as it is infectious and intoxicating. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the intricate programmed percussion and melodies of 'Lag', and the deep space shuffle of 'Moving Away', to the glitchy minimalism of 'Mass Conserved' and the 'Beau Mot Plage'-goes ambient bubbliness of 'Lipod'.