Luke Forward

Is it a damning indictment of contemporary techno or merely more proof of Luke Slater's ability to release jawdropping music that his new EP on Ostgut sounds superior to practically any other current release? It's intersting that Ostgut have signed up Slater because many of their key DJs/producers, eg Dettmann, Klock and Nodge, cite Slater as a key influence, and, listening back to his old Morganistic and Planetary Assault Systems records (as well as old Lost Recordings releases - a less documented but equally crucial influence in the Ostgut/Berghain style), it's easy enough to hear the link. Back to the present: while Slater has the benefit of 20 years' experience on his side, 'Temporary Suspension', under his Planetary Assault Systems guise, is still a shockingly good record. It sees Slater return to his purist roots (hey, everyone should be allowed to have a funny haircut and mess about with vocalists at some stage) as a clanging metallic groove and a lone bleep populate the title track, with Slater filtering the percussion and layered FX to create a constant sense of drama.  On ‘Mark Me’, he applies a similar approach; the beats are denser and more claustrophobic, but they still provide an ideal backing for his firing percussion and waves of climaxing electronic riffs. It sounds simple, it's lethally effective and it promises great things for his forthcoming PAS album.

Comments

[James]

Thanks for the recommendation. And that's an amazingly bad and brilliant headline.

[kenny]

Good to see he's back on track. The PAS from last year (or the year before) was pretty good too, esp compared with the god awful electro house route he was going down there for a while.

[chymera]

Yep... great EP. Quality techno with balls. I think I prefer Mark Me.

[chrisdisco]

yep, a very logic fit. killer ep. 'temporary suspension' is my favourite - so much pressure and tension. play that for 10 minutes, then drop a bass kick and watch the damage...

[peder]

it's a cool record... luke slater was actually one of the people that got me into techno in the first place, so it's nice when things come around