Distance was a fantastic label. It was a house music label, but devoted itself to many different variations of the house sound, from soulful garage to the more abstract, Detroit techno influenced style of Gemini releases. Gemini, aka Spencer Kincy, was putting out some excellent music in the mid-to-late ’90s. The Shadowland EP was one of these, and it’s still worth tracking down.

Gemini
Shadowland EP
Distance/Fra/12
Four tracker of smooth, melodic techno from Spencer Kincey that takes us back to similar sound experiments he was carrying out on Planet E some time ago. These tracks are indeed tracky in the Chicago sense but filled with melodic, chiming keyboard sounds and tricky basslinery The title track takes things into harder territory while on the flipside “Wave” ventures into deep waters first explored by Chicago pioneers like Larry Heard and Marshall Jefferson. This slab finishes with “Motion ‘, an ambient, lush groover punctuated only with hi hats and sporadic bursts of soft bass kick. Unusual, essential and contemplative techno. Chris Orr