Surgeon – CRASH RECOIL

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# 5 – SURGEON ‘CRASH RECOIL’
The eight six-minute tracks of Crash Recoil, also released on Tresor, contain all the hallmarks of those Surgeon classics: the discipline and precision his alias suggests, amid a relentless skider of programmed drums.
‘The UK techno juggernaut taps into the power of live improvisaMon for one of his best albums ever.’ RA

‘Anthony Child’s first techno LP in five years.’ – Quietus

‘ Draws inspiraMon from Coil, King Tubby, Detroit techno, The Cure and 30 years of DJing..’ RA
In March 2023, Tresor Records will release “Crash Recoil”, a new album by Surgeon. It marks Anthony Child’s first techno LP in five years, following a period in which he felt uncertainty in his role as a techno producer and found it tough to locate inspiration. This new album encounters him drawing on spontaneous techniques to arrive at unchartered topographies.

“Crash Recoil” originates from Surgeon’s recent live sets, where he experimented with constraints in performing and embracing the twists, turns and paradoxes that arrive from this. Each fresh iteration on consistent MIDI sequences and hardware reconfigured tracks into different constellations, creating an inspiring vortex of unpredicted events where ideas could flourish. This new approach allowed him to capture the spontaneous energy of his live shows in a way he had never done before.
“This is not a live album, since it has not been recorded in one go during a live performance. In the same way that bands tour songs before going into the studio to record an album, I was able to explore these songs and hone their effectiveness during my live performances before creating a studio version.”
The result is eight tracks that emphasize a new techno sound for Surgeon, drawing in references from across the musical spectrum. “I can hear Coil, King Tubby, Detroit Techno and The Cure all wrapped up with 30 years of DJing,” Surgeon says of the album. Melancholic hum-like ambiences smudge around unadorned, near-droning basslines, crunching rhythm and percolating arpeggiations. The tracks carry unique and potent locomoMon, with a low-slung grind through toughened terrains, breathing with a free spirit, untethered by a studio-based perspective. We hear manifestations of the same raw material across the album, like a textural motif, carving new variants and creating a cohesive work full of recollection.