Transsektoral

Barker & Baumecker's Transsektoral is a slightly strange effort in ways. On the one hand it's a perfectly accomplished 21st century techno collection that nods toward a now decades-long history with aplomb, but on the other hand it's so well polished and put together it's almost hard to appreciate as anything other than what you might expect sonically from such a description. Nothing on the album truly startles or surprises, its sources are clear, and its impact song for song is the kind of satisfying fix one might expect from labels like m_nus and Kompakt as much as Ostgut Ton itself. Where things stand out are in the smaller details: the glitch/click/distant sigh build of "Trafo" suddenly turns funky at one point thanks to the keyboards, a fun twist if not a total disruption. "Sektor" starts the album out on the drumless but rhythm-friendly route with distant sparkles setting an echoed tone, while the steady hook of "Crows" that suddenly runs up against a compressed synth airhorn blast makes for a fun call and response in its own way, however polished and zoned out. "Spur" nicely pulses and shimmers to an end, providing a slight variety in the beats while being clean and clear, its background keyboards acting as a fanfare. ~ Ned Raggett