Akkord. Δkkord. Whichever. The shadowy Manchester duo surfaced early last year, dropping a well regarded, self-titled EP on their own label. Having provided a mix for the esteemed Electronic Explorations blog early on, they subsequently featured on the weighty EE compilation the following summer. It was appropriate, then, that they would join the ranks at Houndstooth, fabric’s in-house label, run by EE’s Mr Rob Booth. First came the Navigate EP back in May, and now, at the year’s end, we’re treated to an album from these dark characters. While the revelation that the men behind the masks were in fact Mancunians Indigo and Synkro was less exciting than one might have hoped (just imagine the possibilities), it in no way took away from the power of the pair’s music. If you’ve been following their releases, and either listened to their RA podcast or watched their Boiler Room appearance, the sound of the album won’t come as much of a shock: dark, atmospheric workouts and percussive jams, imbued with an air of mysticism and wonder.
“Torr Vale” recalls Closer-era Plastikman (“Ask Yourself” was featured in that RA podcast), a cavernous drone preparing listeners for an hour of ominous portent. Despite the sci-fi movie feelings one feels the title in fact refers to a cotton mill in Derbyshire, UK. It now sits disused, reputedly in a lamentable state of repairs, this ode therefore harking towards an imagined incantation in a former site of industry. “Smoke Circle”, conversely, invokes feelings of dark nights spent around the fires of ancient shamans – forget the club, or even the rave, this is desert trance. Rattling tribal drums collide with throbbing bass and hissing white noise, while the groan of a spiritual leader sits quietly enough to attack your subconscious.”3dOS” is where things really get heavy, messing with your mind as it moves through drum patterns and flows like a time capsule of every rhythm that’s ever moved you.
Stream: Akkord – Hex_ad (Houndstooth)
Similarly unsettling is “Hex_ad”, which may well be the best 3/4 techno jam we’ve ever encountered. Just when you think you’ve got a straight-up banger, they switch it on you like that. After the dnb-meets-dark ambience of “Channel Drift” – which was released on tape as one of the various forms of promo undertaken ahead of the album’s release – we have “Navigate”, which sounds just as good here as it did in single format, and in countless mixes over the past six months. The clanks and moans of “Undertow”, meanwhile, close things out in sinister fashion, the hum of abandoned electronics and outlying winds offering no comfort or solace. If previous albums on Houndstooth such as from Special Request and Snow Ghosts were concerned with a folkloric past, urban or pastoral, then Akkord’s self-titled LP is most certainly focused on the future darkness that may await. It is indeed a triumph, a dark listening experience that should be shared and treasured.
Akkord – Akkord – is out now on Houndstooth. Buy here. Stream the album at FACT.
