Across this quintet, the sounds being proffered come from the darkest recesses, they brim with menace and threaten violence. Yet, at their core, these pieces seethe with an energy, an energy that boils forth in its powerful percussion and malice laced melodies.
Burrowing deep into his machines and even deeper into his psyche
You’d be forgiven to think the world had stopped turning with the COVID lockdown. Our rhythm of life has changed, for many beyond recognition. One refuge of normality during this time is music and new releases are still trickling through to record stores.
A 12” that found itself released in the midst of Europe’s turmoil comes care of Pi Electronics. And this record couldn’t be more European, from a label founded by Greece’s 3.14, based in Berlin, with a five tracker from France’s Sébastien Michel (aka Elements of Joy).
Michel will be known by many under his UVB where his no nonsense style of techno has besmirched the likes of Body Theory and Mord. For PI08, the Frenchman is burrowing deep into his machines and even deeper into his psyche to unearth five works of guttural electronics. In the Pi Electronics tradition, no track titles are given. “A1” is a wrenching work. Drone based, static soaked, snippets of voice drown in a haze in this unsettling opener. The stability of a kick drum is welcome with the coming of “A2,” the steady thump beefed up with some metal cladding. Industrial to its core, the track stomps and reels with a burgeoning ferocity. That rawness is carried onto the flip. “B2” grinds and growls with predatory percussion. Accompanying the fearsome rhythms is an understated yet gripping melody, one that is both haunting and uplifting as Michel allows pinpricks of light to pierce his shadow filled sounds. BPMs drop for the closer with drums being layered thick over drifting notes in a piece that works well at both 33 and 45.
In many respects, Elements of Joy would seem to be far more interested in the elements of despair. Across this quintet, the sounds being proffered come from the darkest recesses, they brim with menace and threaten violence. Yet, at their core, these pieces seethe with an energy, an energy that boils forth in its powerful percussion and malice laced melodies.
PI08 is available on Pie Electronics.
