Robert Hood - Paradygm Shift

Robert Hood
Paradygm Shift
2017
Spotify

I mean, Robert Hood really doesn't need me to write this review and really doesn't need anyone's approval. The man essentially created minimal techno and as of the past couple years has a side project with his sixteen year old daughter Lyric called FLOORPLAN. Where FLOORPLAN is more based in House, soul, funk and disco his solo work is firmly grounded in Detroit Techno. On the side Hood is a pastor in Alabama and credits God with telling him to put gospel into his House music. He is constantly touring, constantly playing sold out shows and manages to keep his album production small making people literally clamor everytime He puts out something new. The record is of course dark and brooding like all of his work and more or less sticks to the basics of what minimal techno is. Where FLOORPLAN shines and shimmers with big bold sounds and wonderful gospel singing Paradygm Shift sets the structure for those songs giving them shape and strength. The kick drum is ever present setting the stage and allowing the synths to move and bounce over it getting deeper and deeper into a groove until it is inescapable. It becomes intoxicating to the point of losing yourself in the beat only to have it rocked by some slight shift in tone. Robert Hood is able to mine so much from so little it is quite incredible. As the sound gets bigger so does the anxiety, the synths take on a more ominous sound almost daring you to dance. It's the interruption from a cymbal on tracks like "Nephesh" that bring you back to earth, but only to take you somewhere deeper and maybe even a little bit darker.

The record doesn;t work as one set really each track having their own distinct personality and pace. This is more an album about craft than it is spirit with Hood wanted to provide the highest quality Techno he can without sacrifice. This can lead to some of the bigger bolder moments being missed in service of getting the song where He wants it to go. He is able to put himself in places where once you reach the end you have no idea how you got there. The song becomes something quite different at the end than what it was in the beginning. The bells on "Pattern 8" seem to come out of nowhere and then become the crux of the song. "Thought Process" is meticulous in it's composition each note perfectly placed only to descend into utter kick madness at the end. Anyone who has ever been to a rave will recognize the vibe immediately and even some of the sounds, but with Hood at the helm it makes it so much more special. It's not to often we get to hear from Robert Hood in the album realm so when we do we have to cherish it. This is simply Techno at it's very best.

8.4 out of 10