I think for the first time in a couple of years I've come across something that I'd consider my favourite release of the year, and that's Dettinger's 'Intershop'.
(As a sideline, it annoys me that we're in such a climate of hype that I can't find a way to make the above sound sincere or convey how much I really enjoy this CD... if everything that's quite good is "awesome" how do I describe something that genuinely fills me with awe?)
I expected this to be techno, based on Dettinger's 12"s on Kompakt, but it's essentially loop-based ambient tracks. It still makes sense that it comes from the same guy - a whole bunch of looping chords and rhythmic elements, sounding like they're being filtered and effected in real time.. pretty much the norm for the whole world of "minimal techno" now I think about it.
It's very warm, bright and restful music, without falling into any cliches of that kind of thing, all the tracks packed with layers of processed noise, shifting phase relationships, loose rhythmic moments and fragmented riffs that just spring up out of nowhere. That's something I really appreciate, because, however repetitive the music generally is, there are still elements that I can never anticipate or keep track of.
I don't really feel like I'm doing the album justice, but I've been thrashing it for several months across 3 continents and wanted to take a moment to gush. :-)
As a last note I'll say it's one of the more distinctive things I've heard this year as well. Holy Genre Transcendence, Batman!!
Michael (All IMO, yadda yadda)
np. 'Intershop' - Dettinger (duh..)
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