- Techno doesn't come more cinematic than Spiral, the debut solo release from Tel Aviv's Pharaoh. Spiral is a great title for this collection of five tracks, which could be the soundtrack for a descent into madness. Dealing in distortion, bleeps and synths that burrow into your brain, the EP makes cunning use of the stereo field, with atonal sounds that wriggle from left to right while blunt percussion ticks underneath. These are twisted tunes, the kind that are too complex for most techno DJs to play. But upon hearing the Mika Vaino-style twinkle of "Ganymede" and the faintly melodic sludge of "Landing"'s low-end, the eyes of some selectors will light up.
That said, only those tracks feel club-ready. With a housey bassline, "Landing" is the EP's knockout. A crawl through a nuked-out jungle, it strikes a perfect balance between groove and chaos with snaking bleeps, synths that chirp and drums that shuffle. "Straus" and "The Mill" recall Vatican Shadow at his most touching, with clanging drums, tape hiss and distortion, while "Spiral" is six minutes of action movie techno, complete with police siren effects and synths that mirror helicopter blades. Spiral shows a new producer brimming with ideas, so it shouldn't be too long until Pharaoh is back to boggle minds.
TracklistA1 Spiral
A2 Straus
A3 Ganymede
B1 Landing
B2 The Mill