Local Analyst - Similar Structures
For techno heads, the Holy Grail has always been to travel into space sonically. Whether that's for pure sound design and musical freedom, or if your endeavours are more aligned with Jeff Mills and the other legends of Detroit, who used space as a setting to experience black exceptionalism, Afrofuturism, and to build new myths. Either way, it really is up to you. However, there is a third option outlined by two rabble-rousers from the Motor City. Their vision and new way of understanding this need for escapism wasn't to go up, but rather down. Thanks to the obviously iconic Drexciya, aquatic techno was born. Synthesises ripples, aquatic murmurs, Underwater tectonic shifts, and aggressive bubbling geysers. In this third option, we see the latest release from Local Analyst on Scordisci, titled Similar Structures (2025).
Local Analyst builds on the mesmeric work laid out initially by Drexciya on his most recent release. Unlike Drexciya, Local Analyst isn't looking to reinvent the wheel with this one. His only aim is to make some bone-chilling dance music in the unyielding and ferociously cruel depths of the ocean. From the outset, trucks feel brutally heavy as they strain under their own sub-frequency weight. Local Analyst expands the palette and depth of possible sounds. The opening track, 'Similar Structures,' feels like a cacophony of brutal tectonic rumbles that shift underwater mountains, with the only evidence being small bubbles that float to the surface until the violent shakes become Titanic in scale.
There's a definite emphasis on the idea of the abyss. Local Analyst channels the cult underwater sci-fi films like Barry Levinson's Sphere (1998) or more mainstream The Abyss (1989) by James Cameron. Both pictures explore the darkness, crushing pressure, and isolation of a deep ocean. Metallic hulls creek, and distant creatures cry out, sounding more massive than people can comprehend. One is this very notion that Similar Structures really dig into. The trucks are filled with echoes of how strange, undiscovered creatures are, such as in 'Right Handed Scissors', where the chorus of demonic whale songs is made all the more uncanny by the rising pitch, whereas on 'The Night Gave You In', the sea is more apathetic, slow and massive.
Similar structures flit between these underwater fears, whether it's the more massive beasts or the overwhelming numerical advantage some creatures have underwater. The track 'Melt Away' is an excellent example of this, flooding the listener with three-dimensional sweeps across the stereo image, like a swarm of piranhas. Likewise, on 'No Use For A Tender Hand', it's the overwhelming sonics that create a sense of imminent peril. Layers upon layers of rich ride symbols, timing synthesisers, and unrelenting bass not only create peak-time ferocity but also a beautiful tension-building effect, where you wonder if you're going to survive the six-minute runtime.
Label: Scordisci (2025)
Local Analyst - Similar Structures
