Pan•American - 360 Business / 360 Bypass

Kranky - 2xLP
USA, 1999
Dub Techno / Ambient /
1^st pressing on clear vinyl

Released at the turn of the century, Pan American's second album on Kranky is quite a quintessential dub techno 2xLP for a home-listening experience. In that sense, it slightly departs from the post-rock background of his first LP to embrace a fully chemical sound: subterranean bass and crisp hi-hats on a clear and loud pressing.

I wrote an article in Musique Journal a while ago to express the special appeal specific productions from the late 1990's / early 2000's had on me. I was then talking about tech-house tunes that sounded as if the future was already there, in opposition to productions, influenced by Kraftwerk, that referred to a far away future, flying cars and sex robots.

In my opinion, one of the reasons such a sound could appear at that time is the huge technology leap studios experienced then. Electronic music producers could craft a sound incredibly more detailed and complex by using much less expensive pieces of hardware (and softwares - Ableton Live was launched in 2001).

360 Business / 360 Bypass encapsulates this production ethos. Just Imagine how innovative it must have sounded in 1999: abstract music with an infectious groove and a 3D sound that sounds like it was produced on NASA's computers.

It's a work of utter precision and that's what makes this music still relevant today, just like the music produced by the likes of Lee Perry, Dennis Bovell or Adrian Sherwood, decades before and that heavily inspired Pan American's generation of electronic music producers.

Foggy electronic dubs for late late late mornings. (VG+/VG+)

Tracklist

1. Steel Stars
2. Code
3. Double Rail
4. Coastal
5. K. Luminate
6. Both Ends Fixed