Greg Gow Lost Days

Social Experiment Records teams up with one of Toronto’s true old school techno legends, Greg Gow for the artist’s stunning debut LP, ‘Lost Days’… Greg Gow has been a respected ambassador of Toronto’s electronic music scene for nearly threedecades, championing his long running Restructured label since 2001, DJ’ing in the cities keyclubs since the 90s and bringing the fruits of his relationship with neighbouring Detroit back to his hometown. It is his connection to the Motor City that has brought him attention over recent years,spurred on in large part by his signing to Derrick May’s legendary Transmat imprint in 2009 with the techno anthem ‘The Bridge’. This was to play a pivotal role in the regeneration of Transmat at the time and lead to further releases for Gow on the imprint, a record on Kevin Saunderson’s KMS label and appearances at the Movement festival. Gow’s sound speaks of this close affinity between these two great cities with a smoky, gritty dub inflection that permeates every bar of this his stunning debut album. He has long been a local legend in Toronto’s scene but now there is a real sense that this LP is set to propel this unsung hero on to techno’s global stage. The ‘Lost Days’ LP kicks off with ‘Inception’, a late night ambient soundtrack that conjures up a sleeping urban metropolis, before ‘Fly Tipping’ slides into a soul infused Detroit groove that is slow and sensuous, spaced out and smooth. Cleverly upping the ante, ‘Curl De Sac’ takes a dubby, deep rolling house direction with well crafted synths extending in all directions before ‘Refractions’ re-sets the mood with brooding and beatless chords, found sound details and gentle breaking waves. The latter half of this most coherent journey starts with a classic dub techno cut in ‘Lost Days’, rippled with electric static and underpinned by firm rubber kicks, before ‘Still Life’ shows off Gow’s mastery of his synths: they ripple into the distance and bring a sense of serenity as they build to a peak then dissipate once more. It’s a faultless demonstration of tension and energy as ‘Too Late’ gets more forceful and driven but no less deep and cerebral with its hypnotic stabs and subtle rhythms. Closing opus ‘Beyond Time’ is a blissful final interlude that sounds like a spaceship drifting through the cosmos as the captain mutters into his PA. That final track rounds out a truly outstanding collection of electronic music that is imbued with warm techno soul and makes sense both on intimate dancefloors as well as up close in headphones. The album itself was mixed down at Toronto’s go-to facility, Treatment Centre Studios, and it’s clear that every sonic detail has been treated with the respect it deserves. Greg Cow’s debut album has been a long time coming but it has certainly been worth the wait. It is a testament to his true talents as a producer and is another milestone marker for the ever impressive Social Experiment Records.