Hypnagogia is that of shared reverence for artists and cities across continents and generations, but with so many thrilling new ventures emerging from Detroit and Berlin, let’s hope Leisure System make it a custom and not an exception to develop these relationships on future releases.
It may seem to some an obvious concept, but is it not a small miracle these days to experience a legitimately current and exciting dialogue between Berlin, the current capitol of techno and, forever the form’s spiritual home, Detroit, Michigan? Miracle or marketing, this week we can thank Leisure System, a Berlin label closely associated with bad boy nightclub Berghain, for facilitating this type of rare artistic exchange with a split 12″ titled Hypnagogia.
Detroit dons Dopplereffekt take the A side with “Delta Wave,” dividing dense data packets of arpeggiated melody into utility-framed beatwork, elegantly nestling them under elliptical edges of inverted jazz voicings and impressionist arias. It’s become somewhat a signature formula but it sounds better than ever and the long-standing unit of ex-Drexciyan Gerald Donald and occasional collaborator To Nhan Le Thi easily take up the role of international electro dignitaries, communicating their agenda with style and authority.
TJ Hertz mans the flip side under his Objekt alias with “Ganzfeld.” Your typical Objekt track often plays like a deluge of acid rain skidding along a superhydrophobic surface: a torrent of grime safely encased in a spherical film of sodium alginate. Every kick is 10x magnified to reveal the grain of its structural lattice, every snare drop forged and sprung from its mold cold and oiled.
“Ganzfeld,” apart from being a complete misnomer, however, is something altogether different. As always, Hertz showers love and attention on every sonic element within the mix—a quality he publicly prides himself on—so instead of sensory deprivation, we get sensory superabundance. Motor city mellotrons rip through the full body coverage of the form fitting electro attire, showing scandalous surfaces of bare skin under leather and zippers. Later, a slithering synth bass solo slips so perfectly between the fluent groove I’m not entirely convinced this track isn’t secretly Weatherall and Tenniswood covering “My Red Hot Car.” The tenor or Hypnagogia is that of shared reverence for artists and cities across continents and generations, but with so many thrilling new ventures emerging from Detroit and Berlin, let’s hope Leisure System make it a custom and not an exception to develop these relationships on future releases.
Hypnagogia is available on Leisure System.
