Title: The Things That Disappear When I Close My Eyes
Artist: Totakeke
Genre: Electronica
Release Date: 23rd March 2009
Label: Tympanik Audio
Album Review
Frank Mokros really is a busy man not only has he just released a new earth-cracking album with his SYNTHH-ETIK project he also has a new TOTAKEKE album ready for us but it’s not just a simple album so instead of one we’re getting a double album also with a lot of remixes from Tympanik artists but I’d like to begin with some original stuff.
Opening the first CD is ‘The Past Forgotten’ and who feels reminded of ‘The Past Remembered’ off the last release is not so far off with their assumption. After a pile of tweaked noises has gathered up a piano melody takes shape blending over into an ambient motif of strings and wide textures which becomes the exact same one we encountered on the other track. The slower, reverb-drenched beats are a much better fit for the ambience than the break beat array was in my opinion. Now get prepared for a real hammer as ‘Anterograde Amnesia’ builds up a wall of disturbing distortion and a choir of tortured souls seems to hail up from the abysms to spend the melody or better mood. Why the beats receive a pumping styling afterwards the mood stays on constant eerie levels and the track eventually fades with a cacophony of white noise. ‘Start from the Beginning’ opens as clean ambient offering binding manipulated textures, piano and a subtle droning before quivering, immensely complex rhythms strike the rest of our attention. We already had a little sneak peek on the title track with a couple remixes on the last release. Starting off it is with a fuzzy ambience layer, adding more loops within the next spells and then building into a pretty straight tune even suitable for the club circuit.
Now we’re entering the second CD with a new mix of ‘Pull The Plug’ a piece that goes through a series moody and intriguing ambient build-ups and sound manipulations before a precisely executed, rumbling rhythmic creature spewing sophisticated sounds over and over. One of my favourite artists on Tympanik Auido Tony Young aka AUTOCLAV1.1 comes next with his rendition of ‘Lost and Falling’ and what am I supposed to say? It’s simply beautiful. First it’s only a few sequences; then an atmosphere slowly begins to build and last but not least. Tony’s “voice”, the piano causes showers running up and down the spine and when the organic beats kick in it’s as if its plaintive melodies are dancing atop them and I’m feeling occasionally reminded of a children’s rhyme accompanying a certain kind of game children used to play on the pavement. Strange isn’t it? Another promising artist now brings up his take on the track ‘Contusions’: ACCESS TO ARASAKA who firstly kind of moulds a room of sounds and moods then adding an effected beat pattern that seems a bit unspectacular at first but reaches a fierce level of complexity in the process of its development.
While we still have to wait for the next FLINT GLASS full-length to surface Gwenn Trémorin instead offers a new cut of ‘Patient HM’ whose rhythmic part develops into an engaging blend of tribal and electronics while another of Gwenn’s ingenious ambient sound works utilizing operatic vocals just as a variety of samples, manipulated field recordings and god knows what else. Impossible to say even after countless spins! The question at the end of this review is has TOTAKEKE set sails for all new sonic grounds and I’d definitely say No! But that’s not necessarily bad as Mokros’ style already sets him apart from his peers anyway. Instead he’s focussing on reefing and maybe updating his techniques and methods to make TOTAKEKE sound even better than before and d only carefully weaves in new elements. Anyway, there’s no way around this release in 2009 and it would surprise me if it didn’t get into the higher ranks of the yearly top album lists.
Tracklist
CD1
01. The Past Forgotten - 5:39
02. Disconnected Inside - 5:34
03. Anterograde Amnesia - 4:10
04. Permanent Note - 4:59
05. Start from the Beginning - 5:37
06. Lost and Falling - 6:52
07. The Future Imagined - 4:57
08. The Things That Disappear When I Close My Eyes - 5:55
09. Contusions - 3:37
10. Patient HM - 6:55
11. Memoria - 5:37
12. Where I Belong - 5:14
13. Re-Connected Inside - 5:33
CD2 (The Things That Appear When I Open My Eyes)
01. Pull the Plug (Mix by Totakeke) - 7:31
02. Ignorance (Mix by Totakeke) - 5:53
03. Anterograde Amnesia (Mix by Pneumatic Detach) - 4:07
04. Permanent Note (Perspiration Mix by Zentriert ins Antlitz) - 5:19
05. Gone - 6:48
06. Lost and Falling (Descend Mix by Autoclav1.1) - 6:49
07. Can't Feel Time - 6:16
08. The Things That Disappear When I Close My Eyes (Shattered Mix by Lucidstatic) - 4:02
09. Contusions (Mix by Access To Arasaka) - 4:41
10. Patient HM (Mix by Flint Glass) - 5:44
11. Memoria (Mix by Disharmony) - 4:18
12. Buried is...(Where I Belong Mix by Totakeke) - 5:44
13. Elekatota Three: The Other Side of Things that Disappear - 5:04
Line-up
Frank Mokros – All Music & Production
Website
http://www.myspace.com/elekatota
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
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