- Prologue calls it an EP, but with seven tracks and just over 60 minutes of music, it's possible that Alan Backdrop's digital-only VR Plan was conceived as an LP experience. It's a Prologue debut for the artist, real name Alessio Meneghello, and for the Munich label it's yet another techno extraction from Italy. Meneghello certainly takes advantage of the opportunity, offering up an assortment of mostly subdued and always highly detailed rhythms that drift endlessly through a haze of lush, dewy ambiance.
"VR Plan" starts things off, stirring darkly into action before giving way to "Honok," a high-tempo track with similarly gloomy vibes. It's propelled by whispering rushes of percussion and metallic, Monolake-esque clangs, rather than the low-end pulse that comes once every two bars. But like many of the more enduring releases on Prologue (and across the deep techno scene in general), this one isn't confined to the shadows. "Cherber," one of only two tracks with a straight 4/4 kick, is a welcome leap into uplifting environs, filled with playfully unpredictable acid squelches. "Medel" is the other 4/4 track, and for 13 minutes it indulges in the sort of semi-melodic charms that featured on Cio D'Or's 2009 LP for Prologue Die Faser. "Chaser," a slow motion, syncopated cut with springy bits of acid and evocative synths (which color much of Meneghello's work), makes for an exquisite ten-minute centerpiece. It's my favorite one of the seven.
Tracklist01. VR Plan
02. Honok
03. Cherber
04. Chaser
05. Siere
06. Medel
07. Ere