Unknown Landscapes Vol 1 CD

Spanish techno stalwart Oscar Mulero has spoken at length about his desire to comment on his country's current economic and social woes through the medium of music. While it would perhaps be stretching it to say that he's making a point on this surprise mix CD, it could certainly be argued that its blend of clandestine atmospherics, bleak rhythms and paranoid sounds offers a fitting soundtrack to Spain's current post Euro zone crisis state. Casting that aside, Unknown Landscapes is surprisingly entertaining for something so bleak, offering just the right balance between loopy thump, hypnotic depth and creeping fear (or, in the case of Developer's "Hold It Down", all three things at once).