Voices From the Lake: II

"The first Voices From the Lake album has taken on a mythical status, like a Selected Ambient Works 85-92 for the Berghain generation. Donato Dozzy and Neel, already masters of trippy, ambient-leaning techno (once called " headfuck techno") on their own records, hit on some kind of flow state when they made their collaborative debut LP. This was a cerebral style of techno that sounded like it grew out of the forest floor,"

"From the moment the low end rumbles to life on opener "Eos," we're back in glorious terra cognita. The duo's bass tone alone is a thing of beauty, like a lightweight alloy that's been hollowed out: You can feel the sub in your chest, but it's never heavy, and the higher frequencies drive the mood and melody as much as the synth leads do."

Voices From the Lake II revisits the duo's ambient-leaning techno with a near-equal measure of the predecessor's rarefied atmosphere. The record emphasizes a hollowed-out bass tone that is felt in the chest yet remains light, making bass both propulsive and still. Naturalistic elements appear throughout, with percussion likened to woodpeckers and suggestions of birdsong. The music remains rooted in deep, dark, dubby dance rather than new-age naturalism. Specific tracks illustrate these traits: Eos opens with low-end rumble, Montenero uses tranced percussion, Mono No Koto hints at birdsong, and Montero channels foreboding amapiano strains.

Read at Pitchfork