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Atom‚Ñ¢, "HD"
The always prolific Uwe Schmidt (Senor Coconut, Atom Heart) has produced a third album that continues his push away from the traditional, sterile art of the Raster-Noton label by embracing a skewed, but still engaging take on nostalgic electro pop, bringing in recognizable sign posts throughout while never feeling like an unnecessary throwback.
The most overt and obvious nods are towards Kraftwerk, with the skittering beat fragments and French vocals of the title track implying their later work, and "Stop (Imperialist Pop)," more directly referencing "Musique Non Stop."The latter does veer more towards a cover/parody, but it still works as a stand-alone piece in its own odd way.
"My Generation," featuring contributions from Marc Behrens, sloppily samples bits of the Who song but scatters them amidst a series of intentionally cliché 1980s synth sequences. It manages to maintain the sensibility of the original song but with additions from Schmidt and Behrens that update it for their generation.
The other songs throughout are less specific in their references, but still ooze with nostalgia and familiarity.The live sounding drums and oddly hesitant vocals (courtesy of Jamie Lidell) that pepper "I Love U (Like I Love My Drum Machine)" lead it to some handclap and cowbell heavy perverse approach to synth funk, while "Empty" jumps off with a bouncy electro sense.However the sampled guitars and synthetic percussion that pop up give it a more industrial coloring, albeit a jaunty one.
Classic electro vibes are all over "Strom," with the modern stuttering voice treatments giving a contemporary edge to a breakdance ready song, complete with a pop-lock ready synth hook towards the end.Meanwhile "Ich Bin Meine Maschine,"with Alva Noto, keeps things scaled back with simple, repetitive rhythm loops, showing a more current sheen than the songs that preceded it, eventually pushed over the precipice into full on minimal house beats at the end.
Uwe Schmidt’s work can never be easily predicted, but he does seem to be using the Atom™ guise to inject a bit of pop-oriented levity to the otherwise po-faced Raster-Noton label, but it still manages to fit in amongst their catalog of fragmented rhythms and microsound clicks.Unlike a lot of their releases though, HD exudes a distinct sense of fun, and definitely does not seem to take itself too seriously.
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