Momentum takes us into Robert Henke’s own version of the Beat; restless, ever-shifting, and eternal. Utilizing software of his own creation, Ableton Live 2, Henke has produced a beat-scape of monumental proportions. This is the sound of a laptop artist fully embracing his medium, exploring every aspect of his software. Building on previous wonderments like “Hong Kong” and “Gobi the Desert,” Momentum delivers on previous implied promises. This is the sound of an artist just now coming into his own.
Momentum starts off very nicely with the ping-pong’ing rhythm of “cern,” sounding like a perturbed Steve Roach, with a tasty and menacing synth pad that really pushes the piece into an inner realm. “linear” evokes the atmosphere of earlier Richie Hawtin, but fleshed out in a way that Plastikman would not approach. “atomium” (no capitals in the track titles, folks) reaches out into the dub space, with train-track like skittering percussion sounds. The album progresses much like what has come before, deep Berlin-dub atmospheres and menacing synth tones, tweaked and processed into squelching, skittering (but not glitchy) soundscapes.
Each track evokes a current name in the electronic scene, but Monolake transcends the comparisons, making each sound, each track, each beat his own. And this is the magic of Monolake, of Momentum, and it is to be treasured. This is an album designed for both the dancefloor and for headphones. Or better yet, the dancefloor with headphones, even if that dancefloor is your bedroom.
