Deepchord, real name Rod Modell, will soon release his first album in five years.
On Functional Designs, the enigmatic Detroit-based producer delivers what he calls “night-walks through numerous cities,” which is to say the music is connected to various places he’s visited, like a “sonic postcard from each city.” Across 11 new original tracks, he uses field recordings, holographic synth tones, cosmic sounds, and the hiss of electric wires. The album is a “perfect example” of electro-acoustic techno, we’re told.
While living in Detroit, near to the techno boulevard made famous by the likes of Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson at the time, Modell began looking for a more experimental sound. He co-founded the DeepChord label during the mid-’90s, after declining offers from top techno labels of the moment, and he’s since shared more than 16 releases using the alias. That includes 2017’s Auratones on Soma Recordings, the Glasgow label that will also release Functional Designs.
You can read more about Modell and his work in his XLR8R podcast here.
The album will be preceded by Functional Extraits 1, an EP off off-cuts, and Functional Extraits 2, which is scheduled for October release.
Tracklisting
01. Amber
02. Darkness Falls
03. Transit Systems
04. Strangers
05. Panacast
06. CloudSat
07. Pressure
08. Ebb and Flow
09. Sun
10. Memories
11. Drassanes
Functional Designs LP is scheduled for September 30 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Strangers” below and pre-order here.
