Advent

Chugga, chugga, boom, boom! The Advent's in the house, so stand ready for looped and pumping techno that is a surprisingly easy home listen. Things get off to a properly funky start with "Hi Jack," with clever reverses, a subtle looped melody and suitably thumping beats. Next up is "Inn Touch," just a little bit faster, with more prominent bass lines and some dissonant chords. "Keep It Under" throws a wrench into things, as the four-on-the-floor beats are replaced by crisp electro beats. After that it's back to kicking beats, lots of ride cymbals and arpeggiated bass lines. The album continues on with progressively harder tracks, notably "Link," with its UFO synth sounds and "bang on a pipe" noises, and "Temptation," with its dissonant melody. People who like DJ sets from Richie Hawtin and Dave Clarke are probably already familiar with the Advent, now the sole responsibility of Cisco Ferreira. If you want to get into the modern funky techno sounds, this album would certainly be a good place to start. The commercial release includes a second CD compiling the "Sound Sketch" concept series.