Focux

Focux is a collection of recordings by Taylor Deupree originally released around 2001 as a series of limited edition 12″s on the now-defunct Dutch label Audio.NL including 2 unreleased materials from those times.

Over the last decade, Deupree, who founded the 12k label in 1997, has become one of the leading figures in modern electro-acoustic ambient music, but Focux comes from a time when he was balancing between two worlds: one of ambient music and one of minimalist techno.

Focux shows another side of Deupree’s work that used to prevail throughout the early and mid 1990’s where he took the basic 4/4 techno beat and stripped it down to its most basic of elements and then recombined it with microscopic scrapes and blips forming often off-kilter side beats that looped along at a variety of time signatures, playing off of the 4/4 bass drum creating ever-evolving combinations of loops and interactions.

While Focux seems so far removed from what Deupree has become most known for it doesn’t take much to see the connections between this and his more recent output for his 12k imprint. There is a clear sense of space and a fascination for details crafted in minimalist shell. Loops and repetitions are as present as always and even one of his most important themes ― imperfection ― finds its way into the stark, club-inflected work that is Focux.

It is incredible to find the tracks hereunder still sounding fresh even after a decade and how addictive they are.