Across the 16 tracks on this disc, the duo of Mark Fell and Mat Steel have taken a clinical, sterile study of the most simplistic and rudimentary of classic techno and electro rhythms that, through their deliberate sense of repetition, forces one to hear all of the subltities that are missed when presented in a more danceable context.
While consisting of a series of untitled tracks, the sense is more that this is a single long piece with track markers put in for convenience, the segments more or less self-contained, but obviously intended to be heard within series. The modus operandi of the album becomes clear once the second track starts: a stiff, rhythmc sequence of bell-like analog tones cuts through the silence, resembling almost the first bar of “Blue Monday” cut apart and isolated. Eventually a handclap focused analog rhythm comes in, safely pushing it into early 1980s electro territory. Being the longest track here, the minimalist development is a liability, as the track feels too slow to get started.
The fifth track is similar in its obsessive fascination with a single sound, this time the analog bass synth sound. Allowed to run throughout in its basic structure, it is subjected to numerous pitch shifts and spring reverb, eventually getting locked into an electro rhythm before stuttering and falling apart. Texturally, this is revisited towards the end on the 13th track, though in this case within an erratic, extremely randomized rhythm.
Even the early 1990s gets a nod early on, with track 3 taking the old school robotic electro sound forward with house influenced synth stabs that harken to the days of old, but with that granular synthesis/fancy technology sort of edge. By the middle of the disc, the comparisons to other similar projects are inevitable. The more simplistic tones but random skittering rhythms are not that far from the modern work of one time tourmates Autechre, though here it feels much less like a statistical equation quantizing a synthesizer.
Some of the shorter connecting tracks are even notable in their own right: the fifth track is one simple tone that is stretched for an entire minute, but it doesn’tf eel forced or just doen for technological ease. Instead, it becomes a slow, cautious study of sound, with each slight variation becoming a major focus.
By the end of the disc, the pacing becomes slower, and the final set of three tracks examine the decay of a rhythm, going from a slow, awkward rhythm into glitchy cut-up chaos to a final silence that ends the disc. The disc is one that is more listened to for artistic appreciation than any sort of casual listening though, as the tracks are too stripped down and nuanced for background listening. It’s not good for doing housework or while at the job, but with a good set of headphones and time to appreciate it, it’s a very strong work.
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