Variant - Someplace Else [Field Records]

READ > https://inverted-audio.com/variant-the-setting-sun-field-records Field Records continue their run of essential archival vinyl reissues with a beautifully remastered edition of Stephen Hitchell’s 2009 ambient dub techno masterpiece under his Variant alias, The Setting Sun. Best known as the driving force behind Echospace Detroit and celebrated for his work as cv313, Intrusion and Soultek, Hitchell stands as one of dub techno’s defining producers - an artist equally fluent in deep rhythmic propulsion and pure tonal immersion. As Variant, he distils that full spectrum into an ambient-with-teeth suite that finally receives the vinyl pressing it has long deserved. Originally released as a CD-only album on Echospace Detroit, The Setting Sun was constructed through an intensely tactile process. Hitchell drew from field recordings of late-night storms in Berlin and train journeys through Narita Airport in Japan, blending them with outboard synthesis, samplers and hardware recording techniques - with no computers involved at any stage. That physical approach to sound design radiates throughout the album: towering chords rich with harmonic overtones, surface noise used as an expressive element, and subtle layers of distortion that deepen the narrative weight of each piece.