You’d never guess by listening to his raw, tripped out, minimal take on techno but Jens Zimmermann’s start in electronic music came via the ultra cheesy Euro-dance hit-makers Culture Beat. The keyboardist and programmer’s tastes obviously evolved somewhere along the line and he began concentrating his abilities on the more subtle rudiments of techno. Zimmermann’s latest for Snork Enterprises finds the producer at his most inspired with two abstract cuts that are — while modern in their detailing — suffused with a raw edge that harks back to analogue banks of gear and real time knob-foolery.
I am slightly loathe to use the term “tool” but “A”‘s almost rudderless direction begets the nomenclature as it is the type of track that creates an atmosphere rather than any discernible melody that carries around in your head after it is finished. A steady filter of aquatic noise laps over tinder sticks of percussion while tendrils of effects bubble and fizzle away on the surface. There are few variants to the formula: a hard snapping hi-hat that emerges, murky pulses of the aqueous tones transpose into lower and higher octaves and a snatch of voice is whittled down to a sharp point. While this description may sound like some of the more boring elements of minimal techno regurgitated in long form (both sides clock in over the ten minute mark), Zimmermann’s detailing is on par with Baby Ford at his most spare and hypnotic. On the flip, “B” is a deep, shimmering mirage of lysergic techno equally designed for late night contemplation. Like “A,” its epic length and subtly changing elements give you the feeling Zimmermann is recording this live, the squeal of radio frequencies appearing in the mix adding to this greatly. Beneath the mammoth whirl of evolving pads and sparkling overtones lie minute filaments of detail. Delicate and faint, they add to the trippy nature of the track, heightening the feeling of it inhaling and exhaling, becoming animate. Simply sublime!
beautiful, beautiful stuff.