Jake Mandell returns to give us a concentrated dose of techno. If you want proof that a veteran of the scene can still raise the roof, definitely start here.
Jake Mandell hit the IDM scene as a bright prospect in the late 90s. He released his debut Parallel Processes in 1998 on the London label Worm Interface. His style was clearly connected to Boards of Canada and the glitch editing of Autechre, with hazy sounding BoC melodies and the hyperactivity of Autechre heard in each track. Mandell has since pursued an academic career, he’s a graduate from Harvard Medical School, worked as a researcher, and an author of two radiology books. In his spare time, he’s recently produced Magnetic Resonance, a techno sounding record with a steady pulse and deep muscular tone. It’s as if Mandell is trying to solve a problem with Magnetic Resonance–how to get people dancing all the time.
Magnetic Resonance is structured around sequencing and layering riffs on top of each other. Every 8 bars there’s changes in riff and track layering, and the entire album follows this structure. In other words, Mandell has kept things simple—a functional approach to music making. The album has an intense, German-techno spirit in its tone, heavily compressed kick drums keeping tempo all the way through, and cutting-edge sounding sawtooth synths creating melodies.
The structure and tonality of Magnetic Resonance shows that Mandell is still grounded in something classic. Much of what’s heard here is simple yet thrilling in its power. Tracks “Echo Train,” “Build Big Digger,” and “Gems and Miracles” are industrial sounding, metallic and solid, best played in the vaults of Berghain in Berlin. On the other hand, Magnetic Resonance might be too rigid for some as Mandell rarely deviates from his opening riff and keeps his track melodies consistent throughout. Ultimately playing it safe, this release goes for power over exploration, and sticks to it.
Jake Mandell returns to give us a concentrated dose of techno. If you want proof that a veteran of the scene can still raise the roof, definitely start here.
Magnetic Resonance is available on Schematic. [read Igloo’s Newswire February 2019]
