This is Teslasonic, but not as you may know them. Electrofunk and basslines land with all the weight of an alien mothership.
This isn’t pastiche, this is modern electrofunk
It seems like a lifetime ago that I last wrote about Teslasonic. It was 2016. Pre-pandemic. Pre-Ukraine war. Pre-AI. Electrical Oscillator Activity Ten Million Horsepower was the album and Minimal Rome the label. The reality is that the project, headed by Gianluca Bertasi, has enjoyed its greatest productivity since the 2016. Releases have come thick and fast on imprints like Bar Rotterdam, Nocta Numerica and an album arriving last year on Libertine.
Bertasi is returning to his home imprint of Minimal Rome for this new mini-LP. The machinist is going back to his roots, turning back the clock and focussing on beginnings with the six tracks of Foundation.
This is Teslasonic, but not as you may know them. Electrofunk and basslines land with all the weight of an alien mothership. Bass and beats blast from the outset of “The Frequency.” Donnie Ozone has been drafted in for this record, his voice, lyrics and passion for cuts and rhymes permeate the track and LP. Stabbing synth-lines and crisp drums are the foundation for arcing melodies and scratch segments laden with samples. “The Machine Age” is forged in the fire and fury of a staggered melody and fierce snares with breathy vocals announcing the arrival of the computer epoch.
Technology is the central theme of the record. It can be heard in the pure electronic compositions and seen in the track titles. However, this focus is processed through a filter of the past. Classic equipment like 808s and 101s are the weapons of choice with vocoders and Kraftwerkian choral flourishes being the bedrock of pieces like “State Electricity.”
The flip takes flight into space. “Anti-gravity Technology” tells the tale of releasing mankind from the shackles of our home planet, frigid strings and sci-fi undercurrents shaping the piece. “Human Galactic Empire” is the outlier of the sextet. A chugging rhythm is countered by crystalline chords with a nod to Arabian Prince coming through in a meandering melody. The finale comes in the low slung “Trantor.” A touch of Cybotron runs through the closer, a squelching backdrop is juxtaposed with clean percussion and robotic vocals.
Foundation is a return to a starting point. Alongside Donnie Ozone, Bertasi has produced a retro-futurist record that comments on the present and chimes with the past. This isn’t pastiche, this is modern electrofunk that explores a style first laid down by the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and Newcleus. Clever and clean cuts that will have feet moving and neurons firing.
Foundation is available on Minimal Rome. [Bandcamp]
