Cristian Vogel - NEL Adventures (2024)

Cristian Vogel reprises his NEL alias for his fifth outing on EPM as he presents "NEL Adventures", an eleven track compilation album featuring tracks from his four previous NEL EPs and two brand new productions in the shape of "Gullane" and "Earthsea".

Cristian Vogel is a long-term innovator in the composition, mixing and performance of electronic sounds. Spanning over 25 years in the vanguard of international electronic music, his work has been acknowledged as an outstanding influence in the fields of composition for stage, club culture and studio. His numerous album releases have graced such esteemed labels as Tresor, Mille Plateaux, novamute, Shitkatapult, Sub Rosa and more recently his own Endless Process label.

His studio work as NEL is a departure from his more experimental album and sound design compositions and while these will continue, NEL tracks bear a closer resemblance to Cristian's earlier production style, delivering tougher beats and rhythmic textures primarily using Modular synths in a hands on, improvised live-to-tape process. "The sound is characterized by analogue rhythms, textures and beats with an improvised flow", says Cristian.

Tracks such as the statically charged "Tyrkisk Peber" deliver hot and peppery techno notes like its sweet namesake whilst this is juxtaposed by the shimmering expanse and brightness of "118 Days". Then we have tracks like the minimal techno twangs of "La Fortuna", the expressively structured "Mirabelle", sweeping and spacey "Shadowgraphs" and "Orchid" with its gentle tonal stream.

Finally of note we have two brand new NEL / Vogel compositions exclusive to this release. "Gullane" is a linear groove, twisted by modular bumps into an organic dancefloor tease whilst "Earthsea" delivers glitch, dub-techno perfection and simply highlights yet again that Cristian Vogel is a master craftsman of electronic music.