Since debuting Convextion on Sean Deason's Matrix label in 1995, Gerard Hanson has kept to a release schedule that could generously be considered infrequent. From 1995 through 2002, four Convextion singles were released. While Hanson came up with a few new aliases for intermittent releases, they tended to be one-offs that were sniffed out by only the most alert techno bloodhounds. And then, in 2006, four years after the fourth Convextion single, this release materialized -- a limited-edition double 12" of all-new material. The eight tracks run over an hour, which roughly equals the sum of his previous output under the name, so it's something of an event for the few who have maintained their love for immaculately produced dance music that simultaneously adheres to the aesthetics of Basic Channel/Chain Reaction-style dub techno and that of various Detroit schools -- Underground Resistance, Claude Young, Anthony Shake Shakir, Carl Craig -- while leaving an imprint of its own. Apparently recorded between 1996 and 2006, this self-titled album operates at an evenly high standard throughout, despite the number of approaches taken by Hanson. The A-side's two tracks, Equanimity and Solum Ferrum, could double as the great lost Chain Reaction single, pumping with stern precision and dripping with vaporous dub traces. Astrum and Sulphur Vent apply prickling sonics and compressor-like effects to knotty rhythms, and no matter how complex, they emphasize the "dance" in IDM. Frozen Surface could soundtrack a lunar jit, where hyperactive dance motions are attempted in zero gravity. The closing track, the beatless JMA020603, might be the best of all, the kind of supremely sequenced, trance-state stunner that leaves eyes popped and jaws dropped. It's true that just about all the angles taken here actually flamed out creatively within the last ten years, but when they're worked with such imagination and attention to detail, the release date is irrelevant. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

1		Equanimity
2		Solum Ferrum
3		Sulphur Vent
4		Astrum
5		Premiata
6		Interlude 1
7		Desolate Hub
8		Interlude 2
9		Venea
10		JMA020603

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