Gas - Nah Und Fern: Pop

Mille Plateaux/Kompakt: 2000/2008

(a Patreon Request from Omskbird)

One of some dozen ambient albums you're supposed to have, particularly if you're not a fan of ambient music. Naturally, as someone who considers himself a connoisseur of the genre, such a consensus had me a little skeptical of Pop's adulation. It's no small task in paring a scene as long lasting and expansive as this one down to a select few Must Haves, the standouts demanding something truly unique to stand out from the glut of releases.

So when I gave Pop a whirl, I thought to myself, yeah, there's some nice sounding tones, looping samples into an otherworldly atmosphere one can easily lose their headspace in. Isn't this a style already covered by the likes of Zoviet France and Rapoon though? Maybe so, but I'm sure folks checking out the fourth Gas album on the basis of a glowing Pitchfork recommendation weren't the sort to have delved into industrial ambient's back catalogue. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why it was Wolfgang Voigt's project that got such attention from the indie sect, and I could only surmise it being out on Mille Plateaux, a label already gaining hipster cred from its clicks 'n' cuts series of glitch releases. Throw in the cheeky concept of this being a 'pop' album, so named from the choice of orchestral samples being on the lighter side of the music, and you've crafted quite the cocktail of indie swoon.

Such knee-jerk dismissals on my part should have no bearing on how this album holds up though, with plenty of time and distance from initial reactions. To which I say, for the most part, I enjoy this, and even manages to stand distinct from countless other ambient records released since that emulate the otherworldly warmth crafted here (and believe me, there's been plenty). I could leave the first two tracks off Pop, in that those clicky-hissy noises that serve as a pseudo-rhythm do nothing but grate on my senses, almost token throw-away glitch sounds required of a Mille Plateaux release. What are those anyway, money counting machines pitched way up? Just lay the layers of looping drone on me like a warm blanket, Wolf-mang!

Or hey, offer up some of those dubbed-out rhythms, though I'm glad to hear Mr. Voigt found a way to change those up some too, having grown a tad stale by Königsforst. Thus Pop IV features a looping rhythm that cheerfully bounces with an echoing bell tone. Elsewhere, we have the 'classic' Gas dub techno rhythm for the final fifteen-minute closer, lending the track a surprisingly grand atmosphere following all that drone. Pop music indeed.

Could I recommend other ambient albums over this? Yeah, probably, but if you're just getting your feet wet, Pop is as good of an entry point as any for getting a feel of the genre's myriad styles. I have no contention in seeing this appear on 'Best Of' lists. Just, y'know, don't act surprised when I don't include it my own mythical 'Best Of' list.

Gas - Nah Und Fern: Königsforst

Mille Plateaux/Kompakt: 1998/2008

(a Patreon Request fro Omskbird)

I must admit, when I got this Gas box-set, my initial plan wasn't to review these CDs in chronological order. Nay, I thought it'd be cheeky fun to do the original request first, Königsforst, then come back to the rest in my usual alphabetical order. For sure I'd make it clear these review copies came from Nah Und Fern, but my OCD wouldn't allow me to do it in any other order. Or something.

When I threw Königsforst on for the first time, however, I came to the quick conclusion that I was gonna' have to hear the rest of the Gas catalogue for context. Yeah, I'd heard Pop in the past, but something led me to suspect that wasn't enough. And if I'm to play through Nah Und Fern for 'studying' purposes, I may as well get those reviews done while I'm at it too.

As an aside of quirky factoids, when I ripped the CDs to my harddrive, they all did so as part of Nah Und Fern, except this one. I get why that would have happened with Gas, significantly different compared to the Mille Plateaux version as it is. Zauberberg did have a slight change too, one of its tracks extended compared to the original, but surely the digital version included this change as well. Like, I'm assuming that's why Königsforst defaulted to stand-alone info rather than the box-set, and that re-reissue is more current than Zauberberg's. Ah, I'm dawdling.

I guess it's clear my thoughts and feelings over Königsforst are lukewarm at best. I thought it at least interesting upon first playthrough, with Königsforst V being a definite highlight in invoking some actual emotion out of my brain. Plus, those stereo-pan kicks in Königsforst II did a remarkable job of keeping me entranced while all those dronescapes droned on. Unfortunately, I couldn't shake the sense I was listening to music as concept over music as engagement. Par for the course with experimental music, especially on a label like Mille Plateaux, but given the endless adulation Wolfgang Voigt's project has generated over the years, I wondered if I was missing something (not the first time I've had an issue with Gas).

Yet, I found those older albums more interesting than this. The raw exploration of Gas and the conceptual journey of Zauberberg simply struck my cerebellum better, whereas Königsforst just felt like Wolfgang going through the motions. Here are more orchestral samples stretched and layered into dronescapes, here are more dubbed-out beats emanating from the deepest parts of the forest. This album certainly encompasses all the elements you'd expect out of a Gas record, and does occasionally reach the lofty heights the project's decades-long praise has generated. Still, it's mostly carried by One Neat Trick. A rather clever one but at three albums deep now, not showing much in the way of evolution. Not that it needs to either, just I need to hear something more from the project get more invested in it.

Gas - Nah Und Fern: Zauberberg

Mille Plateaux/Kompakt: 1997/2008

(a Patreon Request fro Omskbird)

It didn't take Wolfgang Voigt long to figure out exactly what this Gas project could entail, so by the second album, he was feeling a little more experimental. Yes, experimental upon the already experimental nature of these looping, ambient-techno dronescapes. There's only so much one can do with the basic concept, and while it may be fine for some producers to keep recycling the same songcraft in different keys, Mr. Voigt did find a way to mix things up some in his sophomore Gas album, Zauberberg (named after a German book called The Magic Mountain - I know nothing about it, beyond it being a Very Important novel in the world of German novels).

Rather than maintaining one consistent mood throughout an LP's running length, he opted for a contrast, Zauberberg growing ever darker and bleak as the album progresses. Then, the ray of light at the end, knocking you out of your insular, depressive mood. Man, what kind of stroll through the woods must have Wolfgang had if this was the inspiration for his second Gas album? Incidentally, the original cover art for Zauberberg does a great job reflecting this atmosphere, what with its stark reds and blacks. It's a shame that art wasn't retained in some form for Nah Und Fern, even as a little booklet. Like, did Mille Plateaux own original rights to the photography? It is quite striking, especially for a label most famous for being purveyors of clicks 'n' cuts. Mmm, naturalist imagery, in an unnatural way.

Beyond the incremental tone shifting of the album, what struck me most about Zauberberg is how much felt space there is between the layered, droning strings and distant, muffled rhythms. I get why Mr. Voigt may feel the earlier Gas pieces weren't so reflective of the project's whole, the rhythms in the debut album more pronounced and direct compared to subdued, heartbeat throb of a bassline that'd define his later output. Now this is Art, none of that 'techno' nonsense! I keed, I keed...

Seriously though, by Zauberberg IV, the steady beat is almost completely muted, with a sombre, dissonant string section that reminds me of horror music. Following that, Zauberberg V actually gives its muted rhythm more prominence, but it's such a commanding marching beat with an almost equally distant strings, it feels like I'm watching a zombie WWII army move over German hills (from a safe distance). As Zauberberg VI plays out with eerie tones and drones, I can't help but wonder if I'm instead listening to a proper dark ambient project. Well, aside from that never-ending techno kick piercing the murk.

All is not forlorn and bleak, however, as Zauberberg VII ends the album on one of those pure angelic ambient drone pieces straight from the books of... Okay, not really New Age in the strictest sense, but man, don't that blissy tone give me all the tranquil feels. A real soul cleanser, after the dark, dank paths the previous few tracks took us.

Gas - Nah Und Fern: Gas

Mille Plateaux/Kompakt: 1996/2008

(a Patreon Request fro Omskbird)

Technically, this was supposed to be a review request for the Gas album Königsforst, originally released on Mille Plateaux way back in 1998. I sniffed around for a decently-priced copy, but as you can imagine, such a CD isn't cheap to come by these days. I could have sprung for a digital copy instead, but in my searching, I noticed the Gas re-issue box-set Nah Und Fern had come down to a reasonable price, and thought to myself, “Eh, why not?” Thus, I'm now reviewing the entire catalogue of Mille Plateaux Gas albums, as released by Kompakt. So... not quite the original albums, but I'll get to that ...right now!

Yes, of all the Gas albums to be tweeked for the box-set re-issue, the self-titled debut saw the most changes. Two tracks were replaced, one for perhaps the better, the other not so much, depending on who you ask. Hey, at least the rest of Gas was retained, which is more to be said for the more recent Gas re-issue box-set titled Box, wherein Gas was completely jettisoned in favour of inclusion of the Oktember EP released during the original run of Gas albums. Of course, with the subsequent release of additional Gas albums following Box, there's always a chance another Gas box set could emerge which will bring back the original version of Gas. Heck, maybe even throw in the original-original Gas EP, Modern, released on Profan, though Wolfgang Voigt has made it clear that sound is too far removed from where he took the project for revival consideration.

And what, pray tell, is the Gas sound that has made so many slightly pretentious sorts quiver in their headphones? Drone ambient, mostly, though done in a rather clever way, wherein mood and memory are invoked more than the usual abstract sound paintings the genre aims for. Why, there's even techno beats on some of these tracks, though minimalist and heavily subdued and dubbed out, such that they reverberate from distant locations obscured by dense forest and fauna. Wolfgang has stated he wanted to capture the feeling of wandering through the woods while indulging psychedelics, and I must admit, hearing these cavernous beats with embers of melody over looping drone does remind me of taking the back paths between stages at outdoor music festivals. You recognize the base details, but they're all mushed into an unending wall of sound, only trace musical elements coming through.

As for the replaced Gas III, I'm not surprised the original was taken out, almost a conventional dub techno track compared to the layered tones the other tracks featured. Instead, Gas III does the pure, crackly dronescape thing, with a sporadic, slowed string pluck. Quite reminds me of the few items I've heard out of the Slaapwel Records camp, though about a fifth the running time. Still, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if some of those musicians took inspiration from these Gas pieces. The ones without the techno beat, anyway.

The Field - The Follower

Kompakt: 2016

There's things worth talking about in The Field's fifth album The Follower. Things like “Axel Willner moves on from shoegaze, does proper techno” and “haha, I'm still dodging his Very Important Album, aren't I?”. I did something this past weekend, however, that's made talking about anything else extremely difficult. It wasn't even my fault! I had no idea it would or could happen. Nor is The Field at fault either – just unfortunate timing in this particular item cropping up in my queue when it did. I suspect if I don't write something about this event, however, it will fester even longer, somehow blocking my ability to connect fingers to keyboard. So I must do what I must do to move forward. I urge you all to skip the next paragraph, and rejoin me in the following one for my real review of The Field's The Follower.

So I went to a tech-house night on the weekend, as the dude who promoted the party said good things about the Berlin DJ he was bringing in. He always says good things about the Berlin DJs he brings in, but I was bored so went anyway. There I stood at my usual hunch just to the side of the front of the crowd, people watching while bobbing my head as I drank my pale ale in a can. Some decent deep-tech kept the vibe going, though nothing out of the ordinary, much less nabbing my attention in one of those “WHAT IS THIS!?” moments. Then, I heard it. A tinny, spacey rhythm, slightly off time, like out of the Golden Era of space disco. No, wait, it is from the Golden Era of space disco! Is it..? Yes, there it is, the cosmic 'aahhs', the triumphant organ refrain, and the hilariously warbly, ripped from pulp sci-fi pitched-down vocoder announcing the arrival of The Ultimate Warlord! Oh my God, I never thought I'd hear this tune out live, much less at a tech-house night. Do any of these people in the crowd know this track? They sure do now! Dammit though, that perfect context burned the song into my brain as it never had before. How can poor Axel Willner compete with such perfect Canadian disco cheese?

*whew* Okay, got that out of my system. The Follower, then.

The titular opener features some cool acid work from The Field before easing us into his usual brand of ultra-loopy tranced-out flow, where most of the album follows suite. Soft Streams and Raise The Dead get deeper in the dub techno zone, with the former a more abrasive than the latter. We all gotta' mellow out at the end though, which The Field does for the fourteen-minute closer Reflecting Lights. Another solid outing from Mr. Willner, then, and a definite have for those who prefer The Field's more techno outings. Unfortunately though, there's not much else to say about it, especially when one has The Ultimate Warlord imposing his Sword Of Light upon ye'.

The Field - Looping State Of Mind

Kompakt: 2011

It shouldn't have taken me this long to get myself another album from The Field, but you know me. A darling techno act, lauded by indie media who don't usually fuss with 'techno', and here's ol' Sykonee, giving it that 'Drake Pass meme' pose, all the while pointing with a smile at some obscure ambient techno item. Not an out-and-out rejection, mind you, but I can't help but let these sort of releases sit on the back-burner for a few years, the hype passing long enough to approach it with fresh ears, unsullied by what Very Important People tell me I should be listening to. Though I do wonder, why have I still not gotten Mr. Willner's debut From Here We Go Sublime? Like, for sure I've heard it (yay streaming), but it's been over a decade since it first came out, more than enough time having passed such that I shouldn't feel like I'm just hoping on a hype bandwagon.

And it's not like this particular album of Looping State Of Mind wasn't equally hailed when it dropped. Right, maybe not quite the same Metacritic heights as Sublime, but still a darn good response from the usual suspects. Yet whereas Sublime continues to be held in reverence, Looping has kinda' fallen the way of Yesterday & Today, simply seen as just another record in The Field's discography that ever so gradually evolved his songcraft. Maybe it didn't help that it carried the white cover art from Sublime, so it's forever compared to that one (sure didn't help Yesterday's cause). Not to mention Axel flipped the cover-art switch in his next couple records, sub-consciously making us believe those albums were of more importance than supposed retreads. Crafty and diabolical, those cover artists.

Ah well, that just means I get to enjoy it more for the album that it is, and not some Very Important, genre-defining, upper-echelon work of techno mastery (or something). And me, I dig Mr. Willner fearlessness in utilizing more instruments into his brand of 'shoegaze techno'. The bassline in opener Is This Power is one of the grooviest I've heard out of The Field camps, while follow-up It's Up There coaxes out a suitably heavenly techno loop-fest before changing lanes for a lengthy, funk outro (well, as funky as white Germans doing techno can get). Elsewhere, Axel proves he could continue crafting epic, escalating, wall-of-sound techno beasts like Arpeggiated Love and the titular cut till the end of days without a hitch if he so chose.

Fortunately, he has a little more ambition than that, the final two tracks mellowing things right the f' down. Then It's White feels almost jazzy despite being no less loopy than his other techno works, while Sweet Slow Baby treads into abstract territory, its overlapping short loops having something of an ambient drone tone about them. Makes me want to check out where The Field went after this. Eh, what about that first album? Man, that's all in the past.

The Field - Yesterday And Today (Original TC Review)

Kompakt: 2009

(2018 Update:
Haha, look at 2009 Sykonee, throwing around the word 'trance' so casually in this review. Yeah, The Field's music is far more trancey than most things in the realm of tech-haus, but that's always been part of Kompakt's manifesto anyway. The pseudo-genre 'neo-trance', neighboring genres taking on trance elements, is a better descriptor, or if you want to be really daft, 'shoegaze techno' (there's a lot of daft folks at Discogs, by the by). Also, where was I going with that Underworld comparison? Sure, Willner's rub of Sasha's Mongoose on The EmFire Collection fit the bill, but not so much here.

It's weird to remember that, at one point, The Field and Burial were held in the same regard among music critics. The proof is in Metacritic's own aggregation, From Here We Go Sublime and Untrue both still holding top honors for "Best Of 2007" music, even above Radiohead's In Rainbows! However, one is constantly referenced with reverence, even getting documentaries made about it a decade on, while the other does not. I guess folks felt The Field's brand of music-making was too singular for a plethora of copycats to emerge from it, leaving Mr. Willner to carry on doing his thing to this day with little fanfare anymore. So it goes for many techno heroes of the '00s.)


IN BRIEF: Evolution.

Axel Willner had quite a thankless task in replicating the critical good-will of his debut LP From Here We Go Sublime, so it’s just as well he hasn’t bothered to try. His sophomore effort is carrying on as usual, as though that top spot at MetaCritic’s “Best Of 2007” doesn’t exist. And why should he care? Yes, the album was quite good, but reading several of the reviews, you’d think this was the first time the rock journals had heard trance music. Then again, it wouldn’t shock me if it actually was the first time many of them had heard trance music, at least of the non-epic variety. Surprising such folks who’d forgotten that electronic dance music could actually contain endlessly looping lovely melodies doesn’t seem that hard in this age of electro-glitch (has it really been so long since Boards Of Canada released Music Has The Right To Children?).

So obviously much of that initial love affair has subsided, and the buzz on Yesterday And Today hasn’t been anywhere near as enthusiastic. Oh, it’s received good scores - as it will here - but now that Willner’s tricks are familiar, the press seems far more subdued in its praise. It’s a shame, then, that Willner has managed to bring some fresh wrinkles to The Field that will go relatively unnoticed.

Touring with just a laptop for his ‘live’ shows must have felt highly constricting to ol’ Axel, as he’s brought in a few extra musicians to the studio to liven up the proceedings this time out. Drumming journeyman John Stanier is the most notable addition, along with one Dan Enqvist, whom brings an assortment of backing instruments to the fray (bass, guitar, piano, vibraphone). A few more rounds out the cast and what we’re given is a richly textured sound that tickles your ears at several frequencies while maintaining that loopy Field structure.

Oh, still not sure of what The Field even sounds like? Think Emerson-era Underworld, though without Karl Hyde’s nonsensical lyrics. The titular track on here alone is very much in the Underworld-vein, with an infectiously groovy rhythm and spacey synth work sucking you into a lengthy trance-trip. The 90s comparisons don’t end there, however, as final track Sequenced is very much like early ambient dub as championed by The Orb, though lacking Dr. Patterson’s odd sense of stoner-humor. Meanwhile, The More That I Do could easily draw Loop Guru similarities, with its tribal stomp and repetitive chant.

These are far from nostalgic love-ins or rehashes, mind, but if you’ve ever paid attention to EDM from the 90s, Willner’s tunes will bring back such memories of the era when similar material was getting massive play from all the British DJs. About the only track here that escapes a 90s comparison is Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, primarily because it’s a cover of an early 80s song from synth-pop act The Korgis; granted, it’s given a fine contemporary spin to fit within Willner’s sonic palette.

Somewhat annoyingly, and not just because it makes this album review shorter than most, Yesterday And Today isn’t terribly long. Sure, the six tracks offered are worth your pennies, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it ends all too soon, but when the musical ideas are purposefully limited, it’d have been nice of Willner to indulge us a little more. There’s almost a care-free jazz-fusion jam-band approach to these: most of them just start and keep going from beginning to end, improvising around the basic melodies along the way.

Yesterday may not be as initially, er, sublime as Willner’s debut, but it is a worthy follow-up. By adding extra musicians to The Field, he’s made his sound more organic and nuanced. Here’s looking forward to album number three.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic, 2009. © All rights reserved.

The Orb - COW / Chill Out, World!

Kompakt: 2016

Can we retire the talking point that every new album from The Orb is their best since [last best '90s album]? Like, obviously it is so, the group on a pretty good run of music making this past decade. We get that it looked as though they were done following [last worst '00s album], that they had nothing left to say or innovation to contribute. Seems though, that with every new LP they come out with, it's the same ol' praises of 'return to form'. How can they keep returning to form when they've been doing it for so long now?

This has been going on since, what, Metallic Spheres with David Gilmour? I'd say even The Dream was pretty good, thanks in large part to Youth's contributions, but I can understand why others wouldn't enjoy it as much as more recent efforts like Moonbuilding and The Orbserver In The Stars. What I'm getting at is we should be talking about The Orb's music as it relates to this current era, and not so much back-tracking to the early stuff. The classics will always be there, but they've enough modern material to judge it within their current phase/renaissance alone, so let's go forward with that, alright? Alright. That all said, COW / Chill Out, World! is probably The Orb's best collection of ambient dub since [last best '90s album].

Sorry, couldn't resist. It can't be helped though, what with the album title almost a direct callback to the O.G. chill out album, Chill Out from The KLF. There's even a cheeky nod to The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu, with the final track titled The 10 Sultans Of Rudyard (Moo-Moo Mix). One could even argue this is a long, long, long awaited follow-up to Chill Out, in that COW indulges in that LP-length musical journey of samples, sounds, feelings and vibes. It's less about songs and dancefloor tools, and more about the blissful trip through pastoral scenery and fuzzy imagery.

Actually, what this album really sounds like is another record where Martin Glover is the driving force behind its musical direction. There's ample amounts of trippy dub production throughout, enveloping walls of reverb drone wrapping you in a warm blanket of sound, with no scratchy sample of ancient jazz, twangy guitar, or jungle fauna too divergent a path to take. Not that piano playing in Wireless MK2 and 9 Elms Over River Eno though, that's straight from the fingers of Roger Eno. I don't know what I find more astonishing: the fact that an Eno is playing with The Orb, or that it's taken this long for it to happen. Brian and Roger have appeared on plenty of compilations with The Orb, but is this really the first time either one has collaborated with Alex Paterson? The mind boggles.

COW / Chill Out, World! should definitively put to rest that The Orb are still as good as they've ever been. New narratives now, music journals!

Vermont - Vermont

Kompakt: 2014

[Obligatory United States Of America geographical joke]

Ah, haha-ha! Hoo, what a zinger that was, eh? And the way I tied it into [Contemporary Political Talking Point] with [Middling Movie Franchise], it just can’t be topped. What does this have to do with Vermont by Vermont? Well, we wouldn’t have gotten to this place without the guiding hands of such Very Important record labels like [Three Name Drops] and [Notable Artist/DJ], so you see, [Crushing Conclusion That’d Make Simon Reynolds Weep With Envy].

Vermont (by Vermont) is now three years old. Yet it doesn’t feel so long this was being talked up in the same, small window of reverent breath along side Tycho’s Awake, Todd Terje’s It’s Album Time, and Efdemin’s Decay. Yes, it was a fun time being a Very Important music journalist covering hip, underground electronic music that appealed to the chiller side of tastes. Naturally I was having none of that, concerned with reviewing Ishkur’s old CDs instead, but I cannot deny the cover-art for Vermont’s Vermont intrigued me enough to pluck a copy. I figured by the time I got around to reviewing this album (late 2015, lol), the hype would have passed and I could take in this music proper-like. But now this duo’s gone and recently released a sophomore album (II), which kinda’ makes this look like hitching onto a freshly revved hype wagon. I swear its pure coincidence, just like [Inflammatory Political Talking Point].

For those who missed it the first time around, Vermont (4) is comprised of Danilo Plessow and Marcus Worgull. The latter has DJ’d for a number of years now, and through Innervisions put out sporadic singles along the way. Mr. Plessow is more of a production journeyman, flitting from project to collaboration to remix to project over the past decade. I recognize Motor City Drum Ensemble among his credits, and his work with Joachim Tobias as Inverse Cinematics garnered positive buzz from deep nu-jazzy sorts, so a decent pedigree in the funky soul camps. That begs the question, then, of why he’d make a debut with Mr. Worgull as Vermont for an album of throwback ambient techno and Berlin-School weirdness? Just because they wanted to? What sort of [Calvin & Hobbes Artistry Quote].

The thing I recall most about Vermont’s Vermont CD is the general sense of disappointment it brought to those hotly anticipating it. The music is very humble and unfussy, going about its business without much care for ‘pushing boundaries’ or ‘changing the game’, as so many thought Plessow and Worgull would. It’s the sort of ‘ambient pop’ that Kompakt have had no problem promoting for years now - pleasing to the ear, crafty to the head, charming to the soul, with enough unique attributes to stand out from the pack (Guitars! Drums! Old-School Bleepiness! Theremin!), though not necessarily stick with you even after playing it over a few times. Vermont is an album that the phrase “good enough” was destined for. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Michael Mayer - Touch

Kompakt: 2004

One of the co-founders of Kompakt? You bet Michael Mayer is a Very Important Person in the world in techno! Maybe not quite as important as fellow Kompakt’re Wolfgang Voigt, who’s the Most Important German Techno Person of all history, should you ask certain sorts out there in internet music journalism land. Still, as the label wingman, Mr. Mayer’s earned himself plenty of positive buzz as well. Though he’s by no means as prolific a producer as Wolfgang was, as the century turned he had a tidy career as a microhouse DJ, even getting in on that early fabric mix CD action. Even with his own label, however, Michael’s output was intermediate at best, reportedly a fussy producer never satisfied with his results long enough to commit to disc.

Someone must have lit that bug up his bum regarding making music though, a debut album in the form of Touch finally hitting shelves in the late of 2004. And not a moment too soon, the gospel of Kompakt finally drifting out of its Cologne, Germany base into a wider world of success and scorns (more the former). This was about when The Orb joined Kompakt after all, and nothing gets a music scene buzzing like a veteran joining an upstart label. Probably didn’t hurt a lot of cool techno people had moved to Berlin by this point too. Thus, with all eyes on German labels and whatever hot records they were kicking out, The Mayer’d One was in prime position to reap the critical plaudits from electronic music reviewers abroad. Except Resident Advisor; they instead covered Armin van Buuren’s latest Universal Religion that month.

As an album, Touch is an unfussy collection of tracks. It opens with a rather trancey titular cut, the sort of tune that helped start that nebulous neo-trance micro-genre of the next few years. It even has a breakdown and build with swelling pads, piano chords, and off-beat acid bass. It's such a throwback of early German trance that I’m astounded more folks didn’t write-off the minimal tech-house darling right then and there. Still, it’s not like Kompakt was ever shy about getting in touch with their unabashed melodic side.

The rest of the album plays more to the style you’d expect of mid-‘00s German tech-haus. Privat provides a slow, simmering groove with funky guitar licks and pads in support. Heiden goes heavier with its techno-thump, while Neue Luthersche Frakfur gets in on that trendy electro-house acid-fart action for a bit before indulging some escalating-sound action. Mid-track Slowfood runs for ten-plus minutes, and is clearly Mr. Mayer’s big artiste moment on the album, with meandering funk rhythms, bleepy ambient techno interludes, and cinematic crescendos. Bit much for my taste – give me the simplistic noir groove of Lovefood any day!

A couple functional tech-haus tracks close Touch out, but by no means come off dated. Even a decade on, Mayer’s debut holds up just fine. Something to be said for keeping things simple, eh?

The Orb - Moonbuilding 2703 AD

Kompakt: 2015

Seems with every new album from The Orb, the narrative claims it’s the group’s long awaited return to form. No, more so than the last one, we insist! Does anyone even know what the ‘proper Orb form’ is anymore? After twenty-five years in the business of music making, they’ve gone down so many different paths, avenues, cul-de-sacs, stairways to heaven, and time-warping singularities that the only predictive aspect of The Orb is their next album most definitely won’t be like their last. Whether you actually dig their latest session is practically listener dependent now. Some keep hankering for sounds akin to their early ‘90s ambient output, others crave the wild experimentation of the Kris Weston years, while a few get down to the reggae dub vibes Youth sometimes brings. Not sure how many would rep Cydonia above all else, but you know there’s a couple contrarians out there.

That folks would find Moonbuilding 2703 AD one of The Orb’s better offerings in recent years isn’t surprising though, the album remarkably consistent and groovy for its modest fifty-minute run time. With only four tracks on hand, each sees Alex Paterson and Thomas Felhmann giving themselves plenty of room to explore… um, their sound? Can’t really say that, if I’m honest, Moonbuilding one of the least ‘Orb go on big trip of sound explorations’ LPs around. Whatever you hear in the opening few minutes of a given track is generally the same tone and mood maintained for their durations (often a shade under fifteen minutes each). On the plus side, we don’t have any ‘wacky-randomness for its own sake’ tangents that left many a former Orb fan cold, but that does leave these tracks rather safe and conventional as they work themselves out. It ultimately all comes off like a jam session with shuffly dub techno and house as the backbone, the likes you might find on typical Kompakt releases rather one with Dr. Paterson lurking in the studio. Wouldn’t surprise me if Moonbuilding was primarily a Fehlmann work, ol’ Alex kept on a tight leash from worming in his requisite goofy audio clips.

The four tracks, then. God’s Mirrorball goes heavy with the dub techno tones. Moon Scapes-2703BC has a steady groovin’ thump going on. Lunar Caves is the most ambient of the four, though also finds time for some soft dub techno pulse in the back-half of its nine-minute run time. Moon Scapes-2703AD has some fun in trip-hop’s domain before getting on a light funky shuffle. Each track is a rather loopy affair, but with consistently shifting elements about so nothing comes off too repetitive or monotonous. It also isn’t the most adventurous Orb album you’ll hear, nor does it have much in the way of memorable earworms or clever sampling. Moonbuilding essentially plays as it means to go on, and it’s perfectly fine in that regard. How some folks are calling this the best Orb album since U.F. Orb is beyond me though. Orblivion was so much more fun!