DeepChord – Vantage Isle

The first and still one of the best echospace releases put to vinyl, timeless in every sense of the word!

5/5
a beauty/a pearl/a stunning LP of dub techno...a wonderful tool.
MUST HAVE for ALL Deep/Dub VinylLover!

In my top 5 albums of all time. Every track is stunning and spacial. The stand out track for me is the Convexion Mix although, every trak is a masterpiece. I could go on for hours about this, I really could but, I'll just say get it. You'll never look at techno the same again.

The last review was incredible out stunning, and I can't be quiet with fact of what this album brought on specific 2 versions by DC, Glaciar and DCmix 3, they are the purest Dubtech essence i ever felt.
I point on those 2 tracks, but still the all album its a complete extase.
Like acidpump wrote in his review, it takes time to get there listening but you will for sure respect powerfully what this sounds effects on you.

I had to remark on this delightful release of pure analogue goodness and is honestly the best release i've bought in many years, especially in this genre of music. I have to say the convextion "miranda" re-release was good and the remixes that of the same but this has even more feeling and i think a million times bettter. The original mixes from deepchord sound very true to their old school Detroit roots as if you had taken best moments of carl craig & model 500's deeper output and put through the basic channel filter. This is dub techno the way it should be, pure, raw experimentation with dubbed out effects and the largest scope & range to catalog this wonderful sound. Where as chain reaction / maurizio / rhythm & sound / basic channel fused an experiment of dub & berlin techno, these guys craft out a sound which has you feeling like theo parrish & moodymann teamed up with the berlin isolationist to form something new and different. The ending ambient and drifting excursions reminding us of the perfection achieved in the rhythm & sound catalog, although everything here sounds original and unique it still radiates that feeling of perfection. This is an echo-laden album with all the depth and heart you would expect from the berlin crew but done in Detroit where it all began, the origin of source and pioneers of the sound. Deepchord have def. left their mark in the world of techno and leave us with a truly remarkable voyage. If your a Detroit head as i am, this is one of the best treasures to come out of the Motor City in over 10 years, no question about it.

What to say when so much has been said, "Vantage Isle" marks a return of deepchord in top form and i am sure will be ed as their best work as of yet. With unprecedented degrees of minimalism and flurting between deep detroit techno and dub reggae. It is, without a doubt, a kind of purist's music, approaching every cut as though trying to fashion, once and for all, the Ideal Dub Side to DC, which hasn't been approached nearly as well in the past. This album only proves beyond the shadow of a doubt, Deep Chord / Echospace and company are the second chapter in the Basic Channel legacy, the U.S. answer to Dub-minded Berlin-ism. This album has so many emotions and after repeat listens you find yourself in a blissful state of dub tech heaven and praise to Jah for it. This is reggae from an ambient lovers perspective, deep, solid heart like beats which seem to establish a timeless rhythm, focused and brought to the fore by a regular, sharp crack, the intrusion of the here and now. Minimal, subdued and accompaniment with echoes and repeated disappearing metallic-like chords which submerge you into the subconscience. The echospace reshapes & forms have these great washes of tape saturation and analog electricity, which rely more on the dub themes than the original (think Pole on a 4 / 4 rhythm)
The ambient and beatless excursions seem to fit so perfectly with their subtle but complex, convoluted rhythms and soundscapes which seem to enlighten us about the power of music, a relief from the preceding heaviness of theme. Then to top it all off the revered and respected Detroit mainstay, Convextion contributes his very first remix in history which allows us to voyage into the alluring harmonies of elemental swashes of sound, haunting work to say the least. Could be one of my top 10 releases of all time but must give it some time, exceptional to say the very least.

I know this is probably pointless to write about with the wonderful things people have said already but i just have to say, If you don't have this album, then you are seriously missing something in your life. I am a huge fan of all things basic channel related and have a sort of religious depiction of their work which sometimes causes me to be a snob about others attempting to recreate their sound. Up to this point i would say Deepchord are about the closest you can get to Basic Channel but still no where close. And then an album like this comes out to throw my whole theory out of wack. Sometimes and only sometimes, someone else can walk in their footsteps, i have to say this is the closest anyone has ever come to doing that in a totally original way. The Echospace dubs aren't your typical electronic reggae / dub material i've heard 2000 times over and over again, there's something radical and new to be heard here, it just has a sound that i have never heard before. The Deepchord mixes offer beautiful deep bass tones and light ambient sounds reminding me of the groundbreaking "quandrant" dubs.
Then you flip it over for true bliss to the C & D sides which have these bass tones that creep under your skin and when heard loud just tear your soul apart, I could dance to this album forever. This record makes me feel like i never felt before with this kind of music, it just leaves me toungue tied for words. The 7" is the stuff dreams are made of both mixes will leave you wondering, how exactly could someone have made something so perfect? Can not recommend enough. 10/10**********

Was one of the lucky few to get a copy of this one @ Record Time over this years D.E.M.F. Another staple outta the Motor City the illusive Deepchord crew return once again and serve up the tastiest Detroit techno i've heard in ages. This release is honestly one of the best albums i've bought in 10 years (I'm really picky!) We used to get their stuff from Watts ages ago but haven't seen anything in a long time (only that promo Huckaby gave me) this album was quite a suprise. I walked in Record Time and the Echospace reshape was playing and people were just gathered around the decks talking about how it was made and what was it made with? We'll i'll tell ya'll, pure and simple just heart and soul what Motown is all about. The intro cut is some of the deepest Detroit sh%# i've heard since juan's contribution on Underground Resistance's "Journey Of The Dragons" It's filled with analog spirit and the darkest of synthesized grooves. Those echospace mixes on the flip though that's what this album is all about, deep, sparse, funky and rhythmic cuts that just get under your skin and captures your heart. The basslines are cut apart, dissected into small segments only leaving the funkiest fragments left to shape and form into a collage of soul. Then onto the Convextion mix, you know that feeling you got when listening to Derrick May for the first time? We'll all ya'll craving that Transmat vibe are gonna bug out on this track, i thought on first listen (wasn't reading the fine print) it was Derrick May but nahh, the mighty Convextion who also just tore me apart with his album last year, this one is no exception.
Then the icing on the cake that bonus 7" to say it's the dopest gear out there just wouldn't be enough. I just can't get over how good this album is, i am not one to buy into the hype but this album is the stuff of legend.

It finally arrives, package from blackhole early this afternoon and thank goodness not as long of a wait as convextion was, it made me change my whole opinion of that release, but now as smoke has cleared it's actually sensational. "Vantage Isle" is a gem to the fullest degree and worth every penny, i can see this one being voted album of the year in 2007. The songs are not exactly what you would expect, even better in my opinion and left me addicted to listen to again and again and again. Not your traditional deepchord sound here, sounds very matured and careful expertise and care in every song. This isn't just merely an album, it's a statement, the deepest of the deep and they hit the sound perfect, like your floating into the stratosphere or submerged in sub-aquatic depth. Sure, many will say Maurizio or Basic Channel this blah, blah, blah, not the case at all, a very unique effort made from the cult followed deepchord crew who demonstrate once again why they are the best kept secret out of Detroit.
The truly mezmerizing aspects of this album are the ambient and dub transmissions at the end of each side, taking me further into deep space than i have ever explored, like rhythm & sound had invaded my headphones and derrick may & juan atkins decided to in. This is a true timeless classic which is drenched in detroit mood with a feeling of emotion and ion you can't explain but just tingles through your body. The Convextion mix is breathtaking on so many levels, first i think this is the defining sound of CONVEXTION and has his trademark written all over it, i can't exactly compare it to anyone.. If i had to give my best opinion i would think Pole and Derrick May started a new collaberation and this was the end result to their best work. The whole release is just as good as it gets. Beautiful, thank you for leaving us with a release people will be talking about 20 years from now, timeless classic.