eMusic Review 0
When the Bay Area's Blaktroniks started releasing records in 2000, there was nothing typical about them. Their gritty, lo-fi tracks — which were also somehow lush and expansive — drew from underground hip-hop, Detroit techno, drum 'n 'bass and the jazz-fueled, syncopation-rich output of West London's broken beat scene. They played not records or laptops, but a complicated setup of samplers, synthesizers and MiniDisc, precariously balanced and spurting wires. It was impossible not to draw a certain Afrocentric sensibility from their name, which paid tribute to electronic music's African-American roots, and yet the label releasing their music was located not in Oakland nor Detroit, but in Heidelberg, Germany. Four years after their last release, the duo returns, once again to a German label, and once again, Blaktroniks sound like no one else. Their hip-hop tracks run from blurry break beats ("Uhuru") to brittle drum machines ("Back in the Days"); their approach to abstract soul might recall an oil-slicked, digital version of Dilla ("Angel"), while cuts like "Blow My Fuse" cross minimalist electronics with dub effects. Two influential Germans make cameos — Monika Enterprise's Gudrun Gut ("Noon") and Basic Channel's Moritz von Oswald, who mastered the album — but the… read more »
