Rod Modell is readying his fast-paced techno-dub 2xLP Captagon for release on June 14th via Berlin’s Tresor label. Featuring nine tracks across four sides, this will be Modell’s first release for the vaunted label. The sound designer has been closely related to the Detroit techno scene for 30+ years now, and under his various monikers he has amassed a catalogue of over 75 releases.
Beginning his musical activity in the 80s, Modell’s initial efforts were industrial and avant-garde leaning. While attending art school during this period, the musician lived in Detroit’s Eastern-Market neighborhood. Not far from the cities’ famous sonic nexus, “techno boulevard,” home to legends like Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May, Modell would go on to be deeply influenced by the burgeoning Detroit sound.
Moving in an increasingly dub-influenced direction, Modell founded the Deepchord label with Mike Schommer during the 90s, later adopting the name for his own solo project. In the 2000s, the musician would also team up with Souldubsounds‘ label owner Steven Hitchell (Soultek), to form the tape delay loving duo Echospace. Together, the pair recorded classic, dub-techno LPs like 2007’s The Coldest Season and 2010’s Liumin.
Remaining active with his various projects through the years, including remixes for labels like Kompakt, Hyperdub, and DFA, as well as an ongoing collaboration with Fluxion (K Soublis) called Transformations, Captagon will be Modell’s first effort under his birth name since 2017’s more ambient leaning LP, Dawn, Dusk, And Darkness. The upcoming release finds the artist exploring the more “sativa” side of dub-techno. With its BPM ticking a tad higher than your classic indica strain from the genre, a track like “Jade” won’t so much “lay you out” as tune you in to its subtle and changing soundscape over time.
