Colonial Patterns

Limited Edition double LP with wide spine jacket with printed inner sleeves. On 'Colonial Patterns', Brian Leeds (Huerco S) treats his Kansas City region as a universe worthy of its own electronic music.To that end, Leeds deconstructs Midwestern techno and house tropes. The pieces are corrugated, rough, and decompositional. Working cheaply, Leeds conscientiously uses low-end software, synths and cassettes so as to subvert the gloss of so much urban dance music, giving tracks an impressionistic, emotive feel.'Colonial Patterns' shares Jon Hassell's hybridized experiments in percussive ambience, as well as William Basinski's strobing melancholia. When tracks subtly veer into house / techno territories, they mirror the no frills dance mechanics of Midwest figureheads Ron Hardy, Omar S and Theo Parrish. Most exemplary of this sonic architecture are 'Struck With Deer Lungs' and 'Angel (Phase).' Both layer subtle rhythmic pulses with broader strokes of deep sustain, creating a pair of intro / outro signals that shape the album's whole sequence and function as main supports to the album's busier core. Bass heavy, Detroit techno leaning 'Linzhiid' and 'Quiviria' deliver foreboding standouts with snappy economy. Stripped of pop devices, discarding utopian delusions, 'Colonial Patterns' is electronic music for the open prairie. Inherently inhabitable, yet strangely dispeopled, it's a fitting universe for this otherworldly debut.