“This is another wonder of minimalist and hypnotic beats carved in the wonderful art of sequencing”
1 Wendelstein 27:32 2 Tokamak 25:23 3 Sonolumineszenz 24:15 SynGate CD-R TI05
(Artwork= Link to Spotify)
(CD-r/DDL 77:10) (V.F.) (Retro Berlin & Düsseldorf Schools)
A reverberant canvas emits its rays of distortions to develop quietly the long minimalist structure of Wendelstein. Suspended synth tears and thunderous sound effects feed an ambiospherical opening that picks up everything that prowls in its black hole, including tiny bells in sequencing mode, to weave a mosaic of sounds from deep into the cosmos. Tears become nice laments while the scenery is still densely deafening. A line of bass pulsations is born from this always tamed tumult, sculpting an ascending cadence that makes us forget this good permutation of bells for tones from a plump and nervous woodpecker. One clearly hears noises in a computer language as the duo Silvia and Michael Kempe take us to a rhythmic mishmash filled with percussive and sound elements, including fire shots which carve a rhythm line in the background. At this point, around the 11 minutes, the sequencer re-evaluates its rhythmic strategy by accelerating the pace of the woodpecker that drives the synth in its jazzman's coat and the reverberant undulations in its disillusioned singer's clothes. This tasty chaos lingers until about the 16th minute, moment when Wendelstein deploys its semi-slow form without altering anything of its sonic disorder.
These first 27 minutes, difficult to tame if I want to be honest, lead us, hypnotized by this sonic amplitude, into the fascinating universe where everything seems to be the same but nothing is really it in FUSION MACHINES! The model remains the same. Long structures sitting on minimalist rhythms built on analog sequencers which play with speeds and infinite rhythmic possibilities. From the same gesture formula, Tokamak is the most seductive and easy to tame title of E-Tiefengrund's 5th album, all on SynGate. The sound mass and its reverberant effects remain the core of its genesis, except that the sequences and the percussive elements, totally seductive by the way, sculpt a very Düsseldorf School approach which is hypnotically lively. The last part, which happens around the 15 minutes, is feed of a sound fauna as variegated as totally crazy. A sound fauna filled with graffiti and braids from synths as much dynamic as the sequencers and which adorn too the more languid rhythm of Sonolumineszenz.
Well settled in its comfort zone, E-Tiefengrund managed to charm as much as Kraftwerk ... But in anonymity! And it's a shame because the German duo has this art of concocting a seductive and magnetizing minimalist music with just what is enough to amaze our ears every five minutes. The sound textures in this FUSION MACHINES are ultra rich and become as important than its rich textures of rhythms built in the wonderlands of the sequencing art intertwined in crossroads where the disorders are also sources of cohesions. This duo is always so good since Voltage Sessions back in 2013!
Sylvain Lupari (October 17th, 2018) ***¾**
Available at SynGate Bandcamp