Techno doesn’t get much deeper than that of Northampton-based Tom Dicicco. Rising from the same Manchester melting pot as AnD, Szare, Alex Coulton and Indigo, Dicicco’s own brand of erudite and emotive dance music has been brewed over years of obsessive dub home-schooling—culminating in a potent mix of dense soundscapes and seductive beat work.

A stunning debut on German tastemakers Baud was followed by a series of split releases for Traut Muzik, Stockholm Ltd and Finale Sessions—collectively seeing the young producer share wax space with Fred P, Jonas Kopp, Dario Zenker and Skudge — as well as a collaboration with Bristol’s horror-house maker Kowton on Project Squared. 2012, however, was the turning point. What well-versed underground bloggers TEA rightly predicted would be his defining year kicked off in February with a debut opening set at Berghain. This was succeeded by summer shows in Italy alongside outings at Corsica Studios, Electric Brixton, Rhythm Factory, and a standout appearance at Boiler Room London in July. Meanwhile, Dicicco consolidated his mounting production credentials with a full three-track EP, ‘Exit’, for his co-owned Inner Surface Music imprint, a second release for Traut, ‘Definition EP’, and an inclusion on Other Heights’ exclusive vinyl-only ‘OHWL#Ten’ series.

As his records evoke the timbres and production techniques of dub and reggae legends like King Tubby, Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Prince Jammy—blended together with a crisply modern take on house and techno, his vinyl-favouring DJ sets characteristically course through a range of moods and tempos: from cool, immersive dub techno through to the harder edged sounds favoured by his Inner Surface co-founders AnD. If the last three years have seen Tom Dicicco percolate steadily through selective underground faucets, the next three already spell a break in the damn with a return to Berghain, further EPs and ISM five and six all penciled for 2013.

iFLYER