Cacophony 33? Zen Paradox? ADSR? Well, Drome is probably the best known of the four projects represented here. After all, it was the band of Bernd Friedman alias Burnt Friedman, before this became Nonplace Urban Field and later discovered the »Secret Rhythms«. What connects all these artists from three different continents – Zen Paradox is from Australia, ADSR are from Canada – are beginnings in the post-industrial, which then moved on to trance and the following. Their four tracks also date from 1992 to 1994, and not all of them sound equally compelling today. Cacophony 33, who sing about an »Old Codger« via vocoder, sound mostly odd themselves, digital sample bass included. ADSR convince with the peaceful coexistence of ethnic percussion and 808 drum computers. The most beautiful is still the extremely relaxed downbeat of Drome, which already wins you over with the question »Have you left the stove on while cooking?« In contrast, Zen Paradox with its airy ambient trance mixture makes it harder to sound like more than a certain moment in the development of techno. But of course that’s also what it’s all about: looking back. Not everything was better in the past.
Transition Volume 1
