(03.07.07) Clone records was founded on the sounds of Detroit techno and electro. Is it
any wonder then that the first LP on the new Clone Classic Cuts label would
be by one of the Godfathers of electro: Dopplereffekt. Drexiya were pivotal
in the history of electronic music and the creation of Clone, with
Dopplereffekt being half of the two man Detroit team. Dopplereffekt aka
Gerald Donald aka Heinrich Mueller aka Rudolf Kiorzeiger aka Der Zylus, has
released on several labels and Clone Classic Cuts have decided to re-issue
three 12″s from the obscure Dataphysix Records from Detroit, originally
released in 1995, bringing them all together onto a double LP or CD entitled
Gesamtkunstwerk. The records were released during a period where banging
techno was where it was at; Dopplereffekt went his own way with an output of
tight electro. Gigolo and Source were labels that realised how good these
Dopplereffekt tracks on Dataphysix were and released Gesamtkunstwerk in
1999, but the records have been out of print since. Clone Classic Cuts have
brushed the dust off this one and sent it back out into the mainframe.
The record is classic Drexiyan electro, clever, angry and dark. The album
opens with “Cellularphone,” a lunging, abrasive piece of moody electro
music. The synthlines are distorted and full of malice, shifting back and
forth whilst sharp pangs and snare beats shower down. A tweaking and
menacing track that starts Gesamtkunstwerk off as it means to go on.
“Technic 1200” pays homage to the classic Panasonic turntable with a minimal
assault before the clinical “Scientist” sidles in. “Scientist” is an
estranging, unsettling piece of electro. The track is born with bleeps and
beeps, squelches, bursts and snips that last for almost a quarter of the
piece before the omnipotent Scientist arrives to categorize the audio chaos.
Female vocals and cold dark tones are at the epicentre of this classic piece
of eerie electro.
Please turn over; Side B starts out with the jagged space run that is
“Rocket Scientist.” Differing from its comparatively named predecessor, the
tempo is turned up for this track while an unnerving and vacuous backdrop
haunts throughout. The melody is stretched, pulled and played with as
physics and electro are brought together. The beats drop metallic and heavy
as “Superior Race” enters with analog orbs of gurgling sound. The same,
sinister and claustrophobic emptiness looms in the background to reverberate
the threat already established by “Rocket Scientist.” The dancefloor is
opened up as the rapid “Satelittes” scrap at high speed across the earth’s
atmosphere. The melodies are fast and the beats scream past, yet the knob
twiddling and analog contortions remain. The flipside of the first disc ends
with the shortest track on the album, “Plastiphalia.” Vocals are at the base
of this track, vocals of a profane plastic nature (ie. having sex with a
mannequin). The melodies are cold and simple and the track ends quickly but
finishes off the slab well.
The second part of this double LP begins with the much sampled “Voice
Activated.” On this track, synthesizer and human voice come together to
create a haunting, robotic and futuristic soundscape. “Speak and Spell”
ghosts in next, with cut samples and clipping beats. Creepy computer tones
float and menace in the background, threatening to break throughout the
track but never doing so. “Denki No Zuno” keeps the robo vocals going, but
the tone shifts into the realm of much more lighthearted electro. Light,
mechanical bleep melodies plink along as brash squelches and easy beats
worm. Friendly arcade game samples drop in an out, summing up the video game
nature of this track. This side ends, ironically, with “Sterlization,” a
track moving to the other pole of “Denki No Zuno.” The track begins with the
vocoder lyrics “We had to sterlize the population,” a dark start to any
number. The track is a dark odyssey across a wasteland of beats, acidic
synthlines and keys. A grim and deep track with a chilling, autocratic and
chilling current.
“Die Radiometre” opens the final side of the album. A slow, bubbling track
with cold, futuristic undertones. For any CBS junkies, the track features in
the I-F – Hotmix (01-02-1999) (from Tape A). The record moves back into
vocals and the sleazy underbelly with “Poronactress.” The clinical,
methodical beats are central with red light techno vocals in this short
number. “Infophysix” is a downbeat electro track with a much more relaxed
and playful tone. Twinkling melodies and space shone rifts fall across a
backdrop of light beats. Gesamtkunstwerk ends with “Pornovision,” a final
calculated peepshow into the alleyways of the undercurrent.
Gesamtkunstwerk is a record from which many labels and artists developed
their sound. The cold, minimal sounds of Dopplereffekt went against the
grain of what was being released in the mid 90s. Dopplereffekt switched
back to a sound that was clinical, but quirky. Evil currents flow through
the album, an audio illustration of the alienation of concrete grids and sex
on call. Gesamtkunstwerk demonstrates what analog machines are capable of,
and what minimal sound can be.
Gesamtkunstwerk is out now on Clone Classic Cuts. Buy it at the Clone shop.
