(03.11.08) Elekatota is the sophomore album from Frank Mokros who is also known as
the New York based producer who has made several releases on the highly
regarded German industrial noise label Hands Productions under the name
Synth-etik. As Totakeke however, Mokros takes his music in a different
direction, merging a range of different electronic music genres to
create a hybrid that still hints at his noisier industrial roots with
Synth-etik.
Elekatota is an interesting concept with conflicting personalities; on
one hand it is smooth, warm and fluid yet on the other it is dark,
brooding and probably a little disturbed. It is almost as though Mokros
has decided to break away from the Synth-etik mindset but his industrial
sensibilities don’t want to let him go that easily. It is like a battle
between light and dark; as rich rhythms shuffle, pound and energetically
jump around, lurking in the background are darker intentions in the form
of crackling distortion, creepy samples and hard industrial rhythms.
However, what could quite easily end up as a disjointed collision of
mismatched styles actually results in something quite original; Makros
has drawn from genres such as techno, industrial, noise and dark ambient
to create a fairly well-balanced hybrid that, although it often falls
more on the harder rhythmic side of things, actually takes in all the
genres at different points throughout the album. “Millenia” for example
is a driving industrial monster loaded with bassy beats that is followed
by the steady rounded rhythms and dark disturbing ambience of “Gift of
Nervous Methods” that in turn morphs into huge stabbing beats.
“Strangle,” despite its title, lightens the mood somewhat with euphoric
technoid rhythms that lead into the crazy experimental abstraction of
“Fragile Thoughts.” In the space of just four tracks, Mokros has
covered industrial, techno, dark ambient and experimental electronic
genres, sometimes within the scope of a single track. Surprisingly
though, the transitions appear quite natural, producing a widely varied
and every changing sonic soundscape of moods, textures, rhythms and
atmospheres. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the range of Elekatota
is to compare two stylistically diverse tracks; “Carrier Signal” is a
fairly subdued yet fidgety ambient techno track with underlying
industrial themes and a hint of glitchy experimentation while “Show Me
the Faith” is loaded with massive bassy breaks, deranged melodies and
hi-tech bloops with a hint of distortion.
Mokros produces an interesting album that takes in a diverse selection
of genres and styles, often within short spaces of time. The constant
switches in tempo, style and mood may be distracting to some but the
concept and execution and still pretty well conceived. Tympanik Audio
again produces an interesting album; after appearing apparently out of
the blue this Chicago-based label is already gaining the attention of
the media as their busy release schedule rolls on.
Elekatota is out now on Tympanik Audio. [Purchase]
