Chevel

Chevel (Dario Tronchin) is an Italian electronic producer whose works range from hypnotic, minimalist floor-fillers to glitchy, intricately programmed experiments. Among the earliest signees to the esteemed Berlin label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stroboscopic+Artefacts%22">Stroboscopic Artefacts</a>, he began releasing minimal and dub techno EPs on the label in 2010, founding his own <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a> imprint two years later. His work continued moving in a more experimental direction with releases like the IDM-leaning 2015 full-length Blurse and the deconstructed club music of 2018's Always Yours. On subsequent releases such as the 2020 single Bromine, he's pushed his music further away from standard rhythms, exploring more of a weightless sound.

Originally based in Treviso, Italy, Tronchin (who was still a teenager at the time) debuted in 2008 with Before Leaving, a euphoric EP on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Meerestief+Records%22">Meerestief Records</a> that featured a remix by <a href="spotify:artist:4TlzX7s6kuZDtiBpsopcBf">Motor City Drum Ensemble</a>. He soon moved to Berlin, and his sound changed drastically. The 2010 EP Monad I (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stroboscopic+Artefacts%22">Stroboscopic Artefacts</a>) was sparse yet heavy, with stark, pounding beats and little else. Tronchin returned to Treviso in 2012 and launched the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a> label. That year, he released a series of EPs on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a> that took his sound in further outré directions, from the lengthy, slowed-down dub experiments on The Elements to the acid- and electro-influenced The Building. A lush yet stripped-down full-length called Apply Within was also released on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a> He also released Hearing, a more straightforward EP of surging techno, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Non+Series%22">Non Series</a> label. In addition, the label released Chevel's second full-length album, Air Is Freedom, in 2013. Rediscovery, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a>'s first vinyl release, also appeared that year, as did A Loveable Inciter on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Vae+Victis+Records%22">Vae Victis Records</a>. He also launched a house alias called Monday Night, and began releasing low-key 12"s on Monday Night Records.

The year 2014 saw the release of further 12"s on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Non+Series%22">Non Series</a> (an Air Is Freedom remix single) and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mistry%22">Mistry</a>, as well as One Month Off, Chevel's return to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stroboscopic+Artefacts%22">Stroboscopic Artefacts</a>, and "Artificial," Tronchin's debut release under the Signalweiss moniker, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fracture%22">Fracture</a> label. Two volumes of Backwards Loops EPs, containing some of Chevel's most uptempo, energetic tracks yet, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Non+Series%22">Non Series</a> in 2015, and a more abstract 10" called "E" was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a> that year. Chevel's highest-profile release yet came in October 2015 with the Blurse album on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Stroboscopic+Artefacts%22">Stroboscopic Artefacts</a>, which featured more of a click'n'cuts sound reminiscent of labels like <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Raster-Noton%22">Raster-Noton</a> or <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mille+Plateaux%22">Mille Plateaux</a>. Following a 2016 split 12" with <a href="spotify:artist:4KxpqghQTX2FlkzsbG3ENk">Simo Cell</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4Oz2VdEwOJYUf2l7I5pk3B">Alex Coulton</a> and the 2017 single "Flying," Chevel's 2018 full-length Always Yours appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Different+Circles%22">Different Circles</a>, the label run by <a href="spotify:artist:7AqtQ161yX7B1509Pq0F6V">Mumdance</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1lqnqqkqnYMrx0kzb0qd8z">Logos</a>. He also released a double EP on his own label, In a Rush and Mercurial.

Chevel issued a split EP with <a href="spotify:artist:0s2Wa8X3NlD7dFRYyjEKVC">Hatcp</a> on the Prehistoric Silence label in 2019, as well as the glitchy ambience of Unlimited Drinks (Fracture Label), which included a remix by <a href="spotify:artist:6ysohaI3qDxQ5qDVAq7Vbd">Byetone</a>. Elvine Unlocked, an EP leaning toward a hacked-up U.K. bass sound, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Enklav.%22">Enklav.</a> in 2020, and the more abstract Glass Bridge was released by Gass. Chevel appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fabric%22">Fabric</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Houndstooth%22">Houndstooth</a> imprint with the cinematic 2020 single Bromine; a house remix by <a href="spotify:artist:6U7MOIhacysUEnfJ41WfhC">Nathan Micay</a> and an ambient version by <a href="spotify:artist:003Lrmd4Hy04kSf0wZm3xm">Yamaneko</a> were issued in 2021. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi