Kattoo is the solo project of Volker Kahl, one half of Hymen’s resident Beefcake. I always liked the clear sound of the duo, even if they only really impressed me with their last 10″ on Delikatessen.
This album is one step beyond though, the production is sharp as usual but the main feature is that every track has a strong personality –this is the kind of music you instantly recognize after the first listen. Places starts with an epic moment very much in the vein of label-mates Gridlock, with heavy synths and distant bleeps, so emotional it will stick in your head for days. “Place 3” is very evocative too, and sounds like a dramatic soundtrack, the one you can find at the end of a love story.
One common thing between Beefcake and Kattoo is that they both mix electronics with other genres such as hip-hop or classical. Here you’ll find tracks that can be easily pigeonholed: “Place 2” is hip-hop, “Place 4” is heavy metal, “Place 5” is pop, “Place 7” is definitely hardcore drum’n’bass and “Place 8” brings to memory the hardcore rave days. Kattoo seems to mock each one of these genres, emphasizing their features until they become a sort of parody, while keeping tight textures and perfect sounds.
This is the weirdness of Places; while you can easily identify every track’s genre and influences, you won’t find a way to describe the record in its entirety. And it’s so good that you just don’t mind and listen to it again. Places is an album that spans almost every electronic subgenre, and basically it should appeal to any electronic music listener.
Places is out now on Hymen Records.
