Released on August 30th, ‘Sleep Complex’ is the 14-track debut album from Los Angeles techno artist Drumcell, AKA Moe Espinoza, a stalwart of the city’s underground scene.
‘Sleep Complex’ is jam-packed with atmospheric synths, throat punching drums and mind-melting basses which – when blended together as deftly as you might expect from a graduate of the Musician’s Institute and longtime recording engineer – create a record that forbids the listener from remaining still. From the outset, it compels you to move, making ‘Sleep Complex’ something of an ironic title.
Following the beat-less, hoover-esque intro ‘Mind’, the album starts to take shape on track two with ‘Disturbance’, which has been described as the “Dark Pearl” of the record. Complete with a solemn, mystifying video, it’s more than enough to make your hairs stand on edge. By far the most eerie track on the album, however, is ‘Empty’. Sinister pads are layered over minimalistic drums, forceful, pulsating bass and an intricate synth pattern. If you’re not careful this track may well swallow your guts whole and leave you feeling, well, empty…
‘Forgotten Guilt’, the third track on the album is the kind of cut that, if dropped at the right time and for a suitably techno-savvy crowd, would cause some serious damage in a club. Strangely enough, though, it would be equally at home as part of a soundtrack to a night time road trip or a twilight jog through the city. Charting five times since its release, it’s not hard to understand why.
One of the most fascinating tracks on the album is ‘Rooted Resentment’ (below), a multifaceted piece of music that takes aspects from various genres and slots them together to create a heart-pounding beat. Pads that you would normally associate with trance and basses you’d expect from dubstep both feature in this enticing track.
Whether you’re a lover of techno or not, if you appreciate intelligent electronic music, ‘Sleep Complex’ will be essential listening this year.
