ROBERT LIPPOK
Redsuperstructure
RN134
Raster-Noton 2011
09 Tracks. 39mins36secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD Spotify: STRM

Robert Lippok steps out of his day job as one third of To Rococo Rot for his third solo outing, following his debut, Falling Into Komëit (Monika Enterprise) in 2004 and the mini-album that followed, Robot (Western Vinyl) two years later.

Redsuperstructure stems from a live set Lippok gave at Raster-Noton’s Electric Campfire in Rome last year. There’s very little of the Krautrock influences which have informed much of the TRR catalogue over the years. Instead, Lippok opts here for crisp electronic structures which he arranges into compact sonic vignettes. If his soundscapes often appear dense and beautifully textured, they are for the most part somewhat stripped down and crystallised around a core of two or three main components. Lippok’s expertise lies in his capacity to develop them into surprisingly evocative compositions, and he does so repeatedly throughout.

Here, he investigates a series of striking set ups, from the atmospheric formations of Unfold, Slowdancingform or Ultrared, or the Steve Reich-infused minimal house of Inphase to the more angular micro techno of Sugarcubes, Whitesuperstructure or Nycycle, yet there is a great sense of cohesion running through the whole record, even when he confronts the shattering bass, abstract percussion sequences and drone-like formation he deploys on the fourteen-minute closing piece Daylightastonomy with fragments of harp played by Beatrice Martini. Keeping to the lower register of her instruments, she drops seemingly random sharp notes for Lippok to catch and process into his soundscape to create a miniature epic which, while never breaking away much from its original concept, continues to progress until it slowly morphs into something altogether more abstract toward the end.

Lippok’s approach is all about simplicity here. His lines are pure and polished, his sound pool reduced to its most essential, and his compositions are, for the most part, kept under the five minute mark. He aims at creating something at once stunning and to the point, and he manages this with brio.

4.9/5

Robert Lippok (MySpace) | Raster-Noton
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Boomkat: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD Spotify: STRM