Longer and trippier is the intention of Berlin’s Milton Bradley, whose black techno experiments include the label Do Not Resist the Beat!, "The End of All Existence," "Reality Is Wrong," and most notably for its 303 acid sounds, Alien Rain. Taken at face value, his monikers may cry melodramatic, but Bradley’s mind is dark and depressive to the depth that titles any less drastic would be slander.
Alien Rain IV is the next installment of Bradley’s two-year ongoing Alien Rain project to resuscitate ‘90s acid sounds with a modern, experimental edge. Conceptually, it plots on a fictional alien invasion – the desperation of an inexplicable apocalypse – yet stylistically, Alien Rain IV is a deeply industrial and intricate swath of sounds. A claustrophobic undulation of brain dinting textures spiral off in “Alienated 4A,” pulling tensions tight in steep loops. “Alienated 4B” stomps to a rubbered bassline with wild pitch bends that distend and distort into a sticky sci-fi bog. The last track, “Alienated 4C,” drones with tilting ambiance before entering a final ramp up into spiked pins and nerves.
Bradley's emotive acid techno causes us to feel doomed, lost, and even psychotic, yet the energies are undeniably invigorating. Sealed in insularity, we could say the brute sounds here forced us to surrender, though perhaps the hidden, twisted truth is we found it irresistible. Here, after all, any private darkness that otherwise dampens is just more fuel to come alive.
Alien Rain IV drops February 17 on Alien Rain’s own sub-label, Alien Rain.
Alien Rain
Alien Rain IV
- Alien Rain
- 17.02.2014
