Modeselektor's 50 Weapons label releases the second artist album by Romanian Cosmin TRG. Since that debut, the now Berlin-based Cosmin has toured the globe, taking his rusted techno frequencies to places like Fabric, Berghain and Sonar, at the same time as releasing more essential EPs on Rush Hour and 50 Weapons. The new album marks something of a new direction for Cosmin, however -- it's a much more intricate affair that deals in plenty of fuzzy texture, percussive energy and his trademark skimming bottom-ends, but looks outside the techno world for its influences. As the artist himself explains, "The title references an ancient myth, but describes the very contemporary, impossible task of discerning between real and replicated, authentic and contrived. Coping with facts, objects and bodies, the necessity of 'making it,' fear of failure, fear of 'not being happy' are today's topics, and Gordian is my attempt at an exploration of those issues." Starting with the deep, alien-laced ambience of "New Structures for Loving," it's clear from the off Cosmin's production has continued to improve and evolve since Simulat. Abstract yet heartfelt, it's followed by the more implosive snare rattles and crossing synth lines of the title-track, which sounds like a factory gone feral. Opposing light with dark, density with space, tracks like "Desire Is Sovereign" manages to be both propulsive and cerebral. One thing that ties the album to Cosmin's nuanced back-catalog is the gauziness of tracks like "Divided By Design," where the distant hum of radio frequencies turn your thoughts to Cold War-era transmissions lost in blizzards of snow. Though the heads-down surges of tracks like "Semi Present" sure will work on the floor, there's an underlying narrative that makes this album as suitable for listening on headphones. Non-standard melodies, otherworldly blips and a ruined intergalactic energy seem to course throughout, truly transporting you to another world entirely.
