ISOLEE - We Are Monster

Isolée is the stage name of a guy from Frankfurt, Rajko Müller, known for his previous club house productions for the local and well-known Playhouse Records. For a few years now, Intelligent Dance Music has seemed to have little left to say, as shown by the disappointing recent releases from its major figures (Boards Of Canada, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher), but Isolée is an artist who looks to the future, and his latest album should be considered almost a debut.

"We Are Monster" is a very distinctive album, praised by international music critics and hailed as the best electronic record of 2005, and indeed it's a fine album: lively, light, innovative and extremely enjoyable. Everything is already clear from "Schrapnell" onward, where the electronics come remarkably close to pop and rock without ever quite becoming either: hints of Primal Scream and even vague traces of experimentation, remnants of an Idm past that stands to techno as kraut-rock stands to rock.

It's always intriguing to see this tendency in the most respected techno-house productions to touch on melodic territory, to aspire to pop; Isolée makes a pronounced attempt at this in "Today" too, which surprises with electric guitars (sampled?) and has nothing techno about it apart from the lyrics (the retro-astronomical imagery has been the topos of all techno-pop ever since it was dusted off by Air and Daft Punk, whether stated explicitly or not). But the best tracks lie elsewhere: Isolée is able to surprise the listener by enriching his compositions with original sounds (something increasingly rare among an army of producers armed with the same software), in a way that feels natural rather than contrived, and he rolls out small masterpieces like "Enrico": a techno-funk rhythm à la Dfa, a vocal part made of breaths, short moans, broken words, lending the track an ambiguous atmosphere. This is music that seems to come from a dancefloor tucked away in some corner of the city's water system, or something like that.

"Face B", on the other hand, is a dark track, built on overlapping kick drums in the style of Alter Ego and isolated keyboard stretches (Derrick May waves to the crowd) modulated to sound like wind and voice.

It's rather satisfying to pick up on these subtleties in music that gets dismissed as merely danceable, when it actually has a great deal to say on both a musical and musicological level. On a purely sonic front, Rajko Müller slips in the much-sung "Jelly Baby Fish", an unlikely cross between Metamatic and Basement Jaxx; "My Hi-Matic": a fast, programmatic, ascending bassline, "matic" indeed, over a hazy, flute-like melodic theme and solemn, rubbery kick-drum breaks; there's even a track fit for an Underworld composition for intellectual young ladies (like me): cerebral, Idm, drawing-room techno that evolves slowly along unknown and surprising paths ("Maedchen Mit Hase"). Looking for a different angle, the minimal, syncopated gem that is "Pillow Talk" demonstrates how metronomic, rule-bound techno — appreciated by non-dancers at best as a stylistic exercise — is anything but incapable of stirring that emotional response every listener has a right to demand from music.

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19/04/2012