After spending the better part of the year releasing music under his long-shelved Millsart alias, Jeff Mills has returned to his main project. The Detroit techno figurehead has shared a 17-track LP titled The Universe Chapter 1 by way of his label, Axis Records.
The songs appearing on the LP keep with Mills’ longstanding penchant for pushing the boundaries of the techno genre. Dissonant synths and suspenseful samples of orchestral works conjure up cosmic imagery, as do the titles of the songs themselves. “Scale Behavior,” “Electrons,” “Sextant Galaxy” and “Canis Major Overdensity” are the arguable standouts of The Universe Chapter 1.”
Mills also recently inaugurated a side project called The Beneficiaries with a July album titled The Crystal City Is Alive. The effort saw him team up with Eddie Fowlkes and Jessica Care Moore for a statement rife with social commentary the likes of which Mills became well known during his late ’80s breakthrough as one of the co-founders of Underground Resistance.
Purchase The Universe Chapter 1 in digital format on the Axis Records website.
