Although
System is a new project, the three members behind it already
have a long track record in the industry, either for their
respective solo work or as a trio. Copenhagen’s
producers Thomas Knak (who, under his Opiate guise, has
recently worked with Björk on Vespertine),
Anders Remmer (aka Dub Tractor) and Jesper Skaaning (aka
Acustic) have previously collaborated under the Future
3 tag, developing a voluntarily pop approach to electronic
music. With System, they combine their love of dub and
join Stefan Betke’s ~Scape label to release this
self-titled collection of echoes, reverbs and bass constructions.
As dub has become over recent years a trademark movement
of the German/Northern European electronic scene, it is
no surprise to see the three Danes making an impact on
the genre. Keeping in line with the minimalist tradition
of the genre and of their label’s releases, the
nine tracks collected here are built around scarce bass-led
rhythmic structures, augmented with drum patterns diluted
in effects and astonishingly basic melodies. The trio’s
approach offers however more in these nine compositions
than one could imagine on first listen by injecting progressive
touches all the way through. Far from being static and
ultimately pointless, the songs collated here are developed
almost imperceptibly from extremely uniform basis into
colourful seismic explosions. Effects are used not as
simple add-ons, but as sound elements themselves, and
carefully placed to actually interact with the compositions
rather than the structures. This approach, close to the
one developed by Betke results in a more accessible piece
of work than the experimentations heard on the Pole albums.
System provide here a remarkable variation on a genre
that has quickly become too uniform, with elements undoubtedly
drawn from their work as Future 3. If the album sometimes
lacks of truly emotional touches, it remains unique and
captivating.
3.5/5 |
