Spectreview: Simic – Atwater Dance

-DEEP PINK-

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Seattle may not be known primarily for its techno scene, but dig just a little deeper and a whole network emerges, a labyrinth of unfaltering BPMs and soul-touching bass that’s all too easy to get lost in. There’ll never be enough to cover, so we’re gonna start with a very recent release, an excellent collection of four tracks by Simic of the collective secondnature. Atwater Dance is fluid and fuzzy, blanketing the listener in beds of sound anchored by beats that change so slowly and subtly that tracing their progression is its own pleasure. True to its name, the collection builds itself sonically from nature, from the jetstream of synthesized voices that run like a current through opener “Cromwell” to to the muddy melody line and organic delayed chimes on the cavernous title track. Techno is a spectrum of variance in a few rigid forms, and this particular collection seems to emphasize community, the common ground of the dance floor; perhaps it aims not only for the sufficiently inebriated but the boldly sober, those who dance from a conscious starting point in an effort to release the mind. There’s also a few psychedelic touches thrown in, such as the all-consuming frequencies prefacing the drop in “Valley,” that make the album as intriguing internally as externally. Atwater Dance is a heady listen, capable of worming its way through your head and your muscles simultaneously, and it’s an excellent representation of kind of techno coming out of this city.

Recommended for blues and greens, and purples.