In techno, meaning is nothing. Esteemed west London producer Oliver Ho may well consider it necessary to cloak his debut album in elaborate [I]Pseuds Corner[/I]-destined theories like “The fabric of sentience is subject to how we choose to shape it.” Fair enough, but really you don’t need a degree in Cultural Studies to appreciate the fundamental dancefloor science at work here.
Ho is one of a number of rapidly-rising young British [a]Jeff Mills[/a]enthusiasts (see also Blueprint boss James Ruskin and Portsmouth’s Aubrey) enthralled by the Detroit master’s rippling minimalism yet wise enough to practice their own method of making essentially the same track sound slightly different several times in a row. It works well for singles (24 for Ho in three years) but tends to be pretty difficult over the course of an album, mainly because one can only stomach so much relentless pounding in one sitting.
Hence Ho‘s earnest musings about ‘instinct’ and ‘intuition’ and, more agreeably, the inclusion of wilfully abstract sci-fi scramblers like ‘The Link‘ to contrast with the mainlined linear rumble and high performance clatter of ‘Layers‘ and ‘Awakening‘.
For such a progressive medium, techno has recently showed signs of stagnation. ‘Sentience‘, at least, suggests Ho is moving things forward.