#technohasleftthebuilding by Rico Puestel

The title and the album are a reaction to what Puestel sees as the collapse of the techno world as he knows it. He feels its spirit and cultural impact has been watered down to meaninglessness, at least for him, and says, "There is nothing left to tell."

The German producer, live-act, DJ, and label owner has released plenty of seminal tracks on the underground's most influential outlets and adds that "the self-consuming scene has reached its grotesque climax and left an empty shell of something once filled with so much passion, warmth, strength, heart and hope. The times just haven't changed – they lost their self-fulfilling purpose and authenticity."

For one final time now, Rico has gathered all his experiences & emotions together and poured them all into this heartfelt love letter to the ashes of the genre he once loved. The whole thing was crafted in one 12-hour session where he relived his most deeply rooted techno moments. As the track titles count to zero in Esperanto, Rico finds his inner peace and balance before finally bowing out.

The album starts with unrelenting dark techno funk and never lets up. It is rooted in classic sounds that layer up raw synths and rusty metal surfaces with potent drum programming. Every single one is carefully arranged and ever-evolving to keep dance floors on the move, as Puestel brings in subtle peaks and troughs of emotion through his synth work. Some are dark and heads down like "du," others like "kvin" are more bright and light with uplifting melodies. "nulo" twists synths into contorted, brain-frying forms, and "sep" will zone out any dance floor with its more sleek and minimal styles. This is a superb snapshot of the innovative and artful techno that Puestel has always dealt in.

Rico Puestel - #technohasleftthebuilding
Release Date December 2023
Label Exhibition

Tracklist
01. dek
02. naŭ
03. ok
04. sep
05. ses
06. kvin
07. kvar
08. tri
09. du
10. unu
11. nulo