[Victoriaville]

After a year that saw Stefan Goldmann in top form with “Radiant Grace” and the issue of his collected singles as the album The Transitory State, 2008 ebbed with “Wolverine,” a slightly lackluster affair that failed to deliver the same punch as the string of previous impeccable releases. Goldmann’s first offering of 2009 will address that balance with a startling double header on the new Victoriaville imprint, a mixture of melody and mayhem that is setting alight techno and dubstep camps alike.

“The Art Of Sorrow” has been doing some club damage for a few months now, and borrows from the ecclesiastical vibe Goldmann visited with “Lunatic Fringe” in late 2007, this time opting for the church organ as a source of inspiration. Goldmann’s ability to make bedfellows out of disparate elements in a track is what truly sets him apart from the majority of producers. Building on an air of suspense and drama from the outset, when the big brash tones of the organ are released you almost miss the subtlety of the flute, orchestral strings and several other incidental sounds that follow. The bass line worms its way around the melodies, a rotund sluggish beast to be reckoned with. For all the tension and melody packed in to “The Art Of Sorrow,” “Radar Opaque” is a raw, reverb heavy affair. Its broken, staccato beat and bleak, industrial outlook will be favored by fans of Scuba, Shackleton and those who like their techno/dubstep hybrids with a post apocalyptic feel to them. Most interesting is that the track actually breaks down in the last few minutes to a slow pounding house beat that will either confuse the hell out of people hearing it in a club or invoke some sort of frenzied meltdown. Strictly limited to 666 vinyl copies, this is essential gears from Goldmann.