Andreas Tilliander gets his fingers into the recesses hidden out of sight by sleek, Kraftwerkian efficiency to writhe in more sinister joys, a burble and pump that’s enjoyed skin and marrow.
What a stroke of genius. Andreas Tilliander is a mercurial Swedish artist and much sought-after sound engineer, perhaps best known for his work as Mokira. Debuting as TM404, he appeals to both the head and the gut with a wily analogue take on dub techno. Though so stripped down, it is an album of tremendous depth and texture. All tracks have been recorded in real time, in one take, on Roland bassline synthesizers and drum machines from the eighties; hence the self-explanatory titles, “303/303/303/606,” “202/202/303/303/606,” and so on. However, they are so well paced and poised, they could hardly have been improvised.
Shaking off a very familiar, Rhythm & Soundy opening gambit, polyrhythmic perversity is gained by uncoiling beyond the usual dance music ken of these instruments. And where Mokira flicks delicately with his brushes, TM404 is an abstract expressionist smearing his oils directly on the canvas with his palette knife and carves his great, impasto swathes with detail. Tilliander gets his fingers into the recesses hidden out of sight by sleek, Kraftwerkian efficiency to writhe in more sinister joys, a burble and pump that’s enjoyed skin and marrow. Pornography for the ears.
TM404 is available on Kontra-Musik. [Release page | Clone]
