For a devoted techno community, Bran Lanen really needs no introduction. But in case your residence is located in between the cold ground and a boulder, which prevented you form encountering his releases, we'll fill you in: behind his back are 10 years of productional work, a solid dozen EPs, released predominantly through the non-commerical netlabels, mostly from Spain (which is also Lanen's homeland), one of which being—you guessed it—Geométrika FM. So now, six years after his first appearance on the label, out of nowhere we might add, Lanen presents us his most impressive and lengthy effort up to date—a debut LP titled Compendium Of Human Defects, clocking in at near-90 minutes, encompassing 14 original tracks and complemented with Razeed's remix for desert. A years'-worth-of-work collection, given to us to binge at once, at a price anyone can decide for themselves. Do you not feel that we live in the age of wonder? Do you not have a sensation of being a king, situated at a top of a throne, who, for reason no other but being a king, had been given a royal feast? If not, perhaps you've yet to grasp the magnitude of this album. Let us break it down for you then, that's what we're here for, after all.

    Compendium is a gathering of direct, effective, straightforward techno tools. Forget about ambient "interludes", minute-long "fillers" and all that watered-down, useless audio data put in techno releases under the pretense of making them more "artful", a tendency so popular today amongst some of the producers who shall remain unnamed. No. Think of Mills' Waveform Transmission, Regis' Gymnastics or Vallero's Moulded—it's that kind of no-nonsense, four-to-the-floor production, except paced around 130 BPM (128 to 133 to be precise), which should be just about right for our modern times that accepted this tempo as a norm. The quality behind each track is so pristine that it is hard to single any of them out, divide them into separate groups or declare some tracks better than others. But while it would be too much of an unnecessary effort to separate the tracks into groups and give them a certain unique description, there are some things that we could say about each of them in general. Firstly, there are no major key works here—it's all very much a serious, either explorative and cosmic or tonally cold and often ruthless production, intended to mute out the thoughts and turn the subject into a mindless, submissive machine, ready to move in accord with the rhythm 'till the batteries run dead. Secondly, according to the waveforms there's rarely, if ever, as much as a single ambient break within the tracks' structures—a sign that gives us a clear picture of their non-stop, on-'till-it's-off kind of nature. Thirdly, while the tracks are plenty varied in comparison to each other, one shouldn't expect much of said variety within the tracks themselves, for reason that, as mentioned above, these are the tools whose purpose is to induce a near-trance state, and for that to happen, monotony must be engaged—to a certain degree, anyway; but do not let the idea of that convert itself into an off-putting reaction as it reaches you—these works are rich and dense in elements and the armies of loops within them are elaborately locked to a point that a monotony gets perceived with pleasure. Of course, such effect is not an easy one to achieve, but Lanen's execution is flawless in the paradigm that he created; he is, quite simply, is a master of this craft.

    To conclude and to give you an even better idea of how things are with this album, we will point out that it is one of the most impressive releases not only on Geométrika, but in the realm of techno as a medium. Techno LP of the year? Too early to say, but it would definitely take or share a place with one of the top 5 by the end of it, unless before that a discovery is made of certain frequencies that can affect the brainwaves directly. Yes, seriously. And the fact that it is offered for free is a little insane. This album is an immense gift, it's a red apple that won't provoke a banishment from heaven. So pick it, taste it and enjoy it.

Release Type: Album

Release Date: 14 June 2017

Release Format: Digital

Record Label • Catalog: Geométrika FM • GEO041

Purchase Links: Bandcamp