Audiopile Review: The first two EPs from beloved deep/dub techno pioneer Convextion (aka Gerard Hanson) get their first ever repress, sandwiched together as a double pack and emblazoned with a new sci-fi themed cover, an appropriate aesthetic that has been the Texas-based producer’s motif as of late. Initially released on the defunct Matrix Records imprint, these two critical 12”s, now the most collectible items on the label, have been OOP for nearly 3 decades. Fittingly, a.r.t.less has come to the rescue, a label that has been the recent home for some of Convextion’s newer work as well as a premier label responsible for some of the finest in contemporary electro and deep techno. While not as atmospheric as his self-titled debut or his 2016 masterwork, 2845, the sonic blueprint of Hanson is laid bare right here, a style that merged the austere and minimalist touch of Richie Hawtin’s Plastikman project with the warm textural pulse of Basic Channel’s influential dub techno. “Kuiper”, which opens the double 12” set, drops us squarely in the depths of a dark warehouse in Hawtin’s Windsor—a mechanized tempo with meticulously stacked drums are swathed in Hanson’s signature bath of glowing ambiance, lifting the militarized pacing into headier zones. “Miranda” follows a similar trajectory, though the relentless cadence is doused in prickly dub textures, not far from the school of Moritz Von Oswald/Mark Ernestus. The second disc, made up of the Convextion 2 EP, is where Hanson really finds his footing—lengthier tracks that smooth out the intensity of the previous deployments, pushing up the levels of warmth and thickening the production with star-lit flourishes. The sound of Detroit and Berlin driven straight to the edges of the Milky Way. Still sounds vital and forward-thinking even thirty years later, a rare feat in techno. Stay tuned for the upcoming full length under Hanson’s E.R.P. moniker!

Long awaited reissue of classic sought-after Convextion tracks originally released on Matrix (Detroit).

Collectable full color cover-art by David A. Hardy