Octobird Salad #5 | Mind-Bending Monotony

Preeminently I went for a certain style of Techno I think I first encountered through the one and only Developer. A hypnotic and driven sort of music, embedded in evolving textures and floating hi-hats, worn by a straight four to the floor kick drum. It vehemently refuses catchy hooklines and replaces it with repetitive textures and sequences to drill itself a path into ones subconscious.

Another representative of this guild is probably Luke Slater under his alias Planetary Assault Systems. Unbelievable he only managed to get on my radar two or three years ago. Especially on his recent releases on A-tone Records (a very courageous, offbeat offshoot of the Berghain label Ostgut-Ton) he indulges these style elements with immense sensitivity. His current release Plantae is no exception from this development.

And just before it might get a bit too repetitive, we take the branch into the relatively sluggish rhythms of electro. Not only to carry the current release of my trusty companion Vortex Traks into the world. With Kafkactrl’s “Entropy Model” they travelled again into harsher areas, which are personally always my favourite.

Last but not least, Animistic Beliefs deserve a mention. While the finally played track still makes use of the usual tools of electro, particularly on their current release Mindset: Reset they managed to give the genre a very personal touch. Perfectionist, smooth and yet playful enough to let both sides of your brain play table tennis together.