[Zooloft]

There are so many producers making dark, droning techno at the moment that the now ubiquitous hypnotic groove could easily attain the same reviled status as the hiccuping minimal rhythm. Indeed, the only producers who will avoid being tarnished with such a negative perception are those who put in the effort and look after the small details. It becomes clear very quickly that Zooloft owners and co-producers Obtane aka Francesco Baudazzi and Giorgio Gigli are deeply concerned about every piece of the jigsaw, no matter how trivial it may seem. From the label’s tagline, “we cannot be defeated by anger or hatred,” to the unidentified duo on the release inlay — presumably Obtane and Gigli — standing on a hilltop as the sun’s rays try to break through the dark gray sky, and the label’s credo — in a nutshell, only use power to help others — this release, and the Zooloft label generally, seek to deliver a message. That the message appears to be inspired by a mixture of squat-anarchy idealism and a cosmic obsession with the interplay between human existence and nature only serves to make The Incredible Tale of Secret Journey Through Your Eyes more interesting.

This homespun philosophy extends to the release, where the duo’s “abstract narrative edit” of “Chemistry of Human Life” leans on the nature-focused side of their belief system. A gentle arrangement populated by abstract field recordings and textures, the duo insure that it doesn’t veer into head-nodding ambient territory thanks to a bubbling bass line. A similarly inclined sound scape is audible at the end of the original version of “Chemistry,” but on that occasion it offers relief after the duo have delivered a techno track that centers on heavy, panning riffs, doubled up, reverberating claps and gradually ratchets up the intensity levels through the use of a building filter. In the second half of the track, the duo have introduced understated bleeps, and it is this element on which remixer Mike Parker focuses. The U.S. producer’s rhythms are harsher, more abrasive than the original version’s and to this he forges a louder, more analogue sounding version of the bleep sequence. The end result is a contemporary sounding take on the F.U.S.E. classic, “Substance Abuse,” which helps ensure this individualistic release stands out from the glut of drone techno music.