As peculiar as Biokinetics becomes in its core moments, it works brilliantly as a long form piece thanks to superb pacing and overall hypnotic effect, and deserves to take pride of place as a signature piece in every electronic music fans’ collection.
[Release page] Every musical genre has its share of pioneering works, those that are considered archetypes of their genre and influential to a multitude of artists long after their release, often attaining a legendary status emulated, envied but never quite bettered. Thomas Köner and Andy Mellwig’s Biokinetics was the first full-length album to be released on the Chain Reaction label back in 1991 and is just such an example. No surprise, then, that the announcement of a CD and double LP reissue (the album’s first time on vinyl) was met with an unprecedented level of elation and anticipation. Available in a first run on clear vinyl, second on black and third on transparent blue, it seems even the label underestimated the demand for this particular gem in an analogue format. Take your pick—if you can find them.
This is how John Twells celebrated his Type imprints’ one-hundredth release: quietly, conservatively but with typically understated panache and attention to detail. One almost feels unqualified to review this reissue, having not been a part of this musical movement back in the day, and everything that follows might be perceived by aficionados as a load of absolute guff. With an abundance of dub-techno and similar Chain Reaction style work still being released to this day, it’s also harder to appreciate the impact Biokinetics would had when it was first issued. Furthermore, like the recently reissued solo works by Thomas Köner (also on Type) it’s hard to believe that this music is nearly twenty years old, sounding as fresh, weird and wonderful now as it must have then.
The album is bookended by the two tracks that most closely resemble the contemporary minimalist and dub techno templates, serving as a gentle and, in today’s terms, familiar introduction to the weird and wonderful subaquatic skies of Porter Ricks, whilst leaving a lasting, recognisable impression. Indeed “Port Gentil” is one of the high-points of ‘Biokinetics,’ opening the album with the rhythmic thump of a beating heart, the muffled sound of pulsing blood heard through a stethoscope, and the sweeping amber glow of a lighthouse lamp as it beams through twilight fog. Built upon these distinctive sounds are the clatter of wheels across railway tracks, a bright arpeggio and an insistent, wavering synth that locks into place to create a hypnotic slice of pure sonic majesty. “Nautical Zone” (an obvious inspiration for, among other things, Markus Guentber’s Doppelgaenger on Sending Orbs) closes out proceedings with hazy solar flared pads, scissor slashing hi-hat, and the only truly recognizably aquatic sounds on the album—an all-pervading, azure bubbling and glugging.
The cover images on this reissue are as ambiguous as the music of Porter Ricks itself, the aquatic theme that permeates rendering the eclipse visible on the skyline illuminating a cloudscape more like an image of the ocean. In typically perverse, Porter Ricks style, “Nautical Dub” ends up one of the least nautical sounding tracks in the set, the clatter of a runaway train accompanying the muffled 4/4 rhythm and aircraft cabin hiss having very little to do with underwater textures. But it’s those underlying rhythmic pulses and beats that are the key to it all: with every sharp edge buffed and rounded off or eroded into smooth, sweeping forms by the forces of nature. The sounds that reach us are as if heard whilst submerged, deep underwater.
The naming conventions are also a little strange. The unctuous squelch and rusted burble of “Biokinetics 1” having little to do with the ambient “Biokinetics 2,” a track that could easily have appeared on one of Köner’s own solo ambient albums. The soundscape is dwarfing, the main melodic source seeming to hang on the very far horizon while the sonic booms and pounding of great subterranean machines shake the very ground and air around you. The viscous, gloopy clop-clopping sounds are repeated on both “Port of Nuba” and “Nautical Nuba,” two of the oddest moments on Biokinetics where the rhythms appear to trip, tumble and fall over one another. The same beats are processed differently on the two pieces to create a two-parter with connected, but sonically diverse results.
As peculiar as Biokinetics becomes in its core moments, it works brilliantly as a long form piece thanks to superb pacing and overall hypnotic effect, and deserves to take pride of place as a signature piece in every electronic music fans’ collection. This re-issue appears on Type presumably because of Twells’ intention to re-issue the bulk of Thomas Köner’s magnificent back-catalogue on beautiful vinyl editions for the first time. As such, it’s not necessarily likely that we’ll see the label re-issue any further releases from the label or its parent Basic Channel, but one can always hope.
Biokinetics is available on Type.. [Release page]
