(04.25.06) Having contributed work to the first releases on the Rotterdam based
DUB label back in 1998, Autophonic was instrumental in defining that
label’s sound. It is no surprise that label-mates like Funckarma once
shared numerous influences and employed similar sound design. However,
the work of Autophonic exudes an easy familiarity today, thanks both
to the multitude of releases from Holland that have since explored the
same territory, and to the range of well known IDM sound palettes this
compilation employs. Whether it be the skittish broken beats and dry
synths that pepper “Gasp,” the looser “Suspicion” or the bluesy “Slack” that inform the work of artists on Rushhour like
Aardvarck, the hints of Toytronica in “Craft Crush,” “Klont” or
“Kendu,” or the Chiastic Slide era Autechre-isms of pieces like
“Mekanix” or “Vicious Circles,” Slack‘s influence and
influences can be heard everywhere. If anything, Slack bears a
closer resemblance to a various artists compilation than to a
collection of work by the same person.
That said, Slack is an unmistakably Dutch release, through and
through. There are some cleanly blended and refreshingly un-laboured
jazz and funk elements shot through many of these pieces. “Gasp” has
it’s crisp, dry broken-beats flitter amongst steely computer chatter
and warm, wowing double-bass. The swaggering, easy gait of “Suspicion”
evokes images of smoky lounge-bars, and the free-form improvised
keyboards, guitar scrapes and occasional trumpeting of Slack
recalls Bitches Brew era Miles Davis in almost reverential style.
On the more overtly electronic front, mechanical pieces like “Craft
Crush” and “Mekanix” make an immediate impact, the former a clean
melding of frosted percussion with Kraftwerk-esque and trancey synths,
the latter a relentless production-line of clattering and clanking
machinery, while “Klont” delivers an infectious blend of sci-fi
bleeps, jagged and fizzing percussive splinters and jabbering computer
voices.
Re-arrange the running order of the tracks on Slack and you end
up with something that sounds like a release split between two
artists, and one suspects that a far more consistent and successful
work could be created if Autophonic had composed enough of these
jazz/funk infused pieces to fill a whole album. It is also quite clear
that it is in this fusion that he excels. If there is one problem that
plagues much of the material it is the rather detached and clinical
way in which many of the pieces are administered. Whether this facet
of the production is appealing or not is very much down to personal
taste, but the mechanical approach and apparent lack of an emotional
connection or hook in many of the pieces may result in the album
alienating the listener to a degree. That said, the mood pieces like
“Flets” or “Slack” often more than make up for this.
Slack lacks the focus that would allow it to hang together as a
proper solo album, but since it is intended to be a collection of
Autophonic’s best work from the past coupled with some newly written
pieces, perhaps it was never really supposed to. It does deliver some
excellent tracks, however, especially in it’s more jazz/funk fuelled
moments and we can only hope to hear more material in this vein from
Autophonic in the future.
Slack is out now on On Records.
