Bleep

Gez Varley has hardly been absent since his time as one half of LFO in the 90s: alongside a steady clip of 12”s coming out from him over the years, the G-Man has been releasing gems on Bandcamp for some time now. MoonBase Alpha is one such digital drop that now becomes his first vinyl LP in over two decades, since his 2002 album Avanti. Inspired in part by the late 80s/early 90s techno scene, G-Man channels those classic sounds with a modern clarity, powered by his long running dedication to the dancefloor.

Sweet radiation flows in on the introductory title track, and we’re immediately met with rebounding bass heavy drum machine hits. It feels huge, jubilant, adventurous, as glittery citrus synths glide and waver with the track’s swelling energy; it’s evident that Varley has remained ever faithful to his philosophy of just making great rocking dance tracks.

The revolving stomp of ‘Fidus Tempus’ is a playground for spectral filters to rise and burrow across while golden club pianos tie everything together. That hammering techno 4/4 is a constant across the album, appearing as a heavy throb on ‘Moon Dust’ with morse code like bleeps peeking through the winding haze of fuzz and rhythmic layers, while ‘Paris 92’ whizzes with wild arpeggios modulating across the track. Varley is particularly attuned to generating novel synth tones, like sizzling melodies that pierce with the undercurrent of clanging bells, or dissonant chords pulsing against twitching percussive details and the background slush of cymbals.

There’s no fluff here, just a solid slab of techno from one of the UK’s originators.