Throbbing machine basses heave their bulky presence through shadows just at the edge of perception, like some shapeless monster from a nightmare.
Zeitgeber is a new collaborative project from that pioneering Godfather of the techno world Speedy J and the maybe not so well known Lucy. It is also the title of this LP. Speedy J needs little introduction, and if it is a moniker that is unknown to you, I suggest some cursory internet delving. Such a delve will reveal that he (Jochem Paap) is a forward thinking DJ and producer that has straddled the leading edge of the most avant guard techno, who among peers such as Aphex Twin, Richie Hawtin and Laurent Garnier helped define the modern face of electronic music and sound design. The DVD Umfeld was a particular highlight for me, setting a standard for abstract forms both visual and sonic, and the symbiosis that the two can have, an area which has been so much explored in more recent times with the omnipresent and often outstanding visual displays at clubs, and in fact almost all public performances of electronic music. Actually, make that any type of music performance at all. Well, that’s a topic for another day perhaps. Lucy is a producer that I’m not particularly familiar with, but he is the head honcho of the label Stroboscopic Artefacts who are releasing this album and another of those cursory internet scans suggests a very proficient exploratory producer. I have to admit that as I advance in years my intimate knowledge of the techno world diminishes along with its associated activities.
This album is a really intricate work of alien sound design. It is very dark and a little bit uncomfortable in places; throbbing machine basses heave their bulky presence through shadows just at the edge of perception, like some shapeless monster from a nightmare. Swarms of metallic robot insects writhe unseen behind walls and under floorboards, menacingly congregating for some unknown but guessed at purpose. Static piques the air and sinister mainframes hum and bleep periodically. This is not an album catering for dance floor tastes, there is barely a kick drum to be heard throughout, and on the only track with anything like a conventional beat, it is a very muted affair and clings forlornly to a regularity like the decaying flesh of a cadaver to its skeleton after months of decay. It is an album that explores those darker areas of our human condition using synthesized sounds and heavily processed samples.
It’s as if the cycle of electronic music composition has come round full circle from those early days of the Cologne studios in Germany followed by the likes of Kraftework and others who used these new and never before heard sounds to create intricate and astounding sound tapestries. Although a circle may not be an accurate analogy, more like a spiral arcing back towards it’s point of departure on 2-D axis’, re-learning those early experiments and appreciating the hard earned fruits of texture and design, but projected farther forward on the third axis with the collective experience of the last forty years or so. The result is this album of deeply affecting and complex sonic exploration. Dark, sinister, disturbing and very good.
Zeitgeber is available on Stroboscopic Artefact. [Release page]
