Zeitgeber “Monad XX”

23 Jul 2015 — Evelyn Malinowski

Stroboscopic Artefacts' Monad series continues to hone in on itself as well as the label's specificity, its taut black and white techno aesthetic. The Monad series is adorned with sketches of geometrically interesting surrealistic desert fruits and/or oceanic creatures. They are somewhat cute though prickly and pokey, an observation which serves as insight into the style of the series. Having featured releases from Kangding Ray, Perc, Rrose, AOKI Takamasa, and label runner Lucy, the next deposition features Zeitgeber, an act comprised of the legendary Speedy J and Lucy. "Monad XX" is abstract, muddy, and replete with eccentric design. It is both crude and cartoonish. I'm not sure I hear anything in the release that gives either of the producers away, apart from Lucy's military-marching, repetitious percussive work. The first time I heard Zeitgeber, I imagined that it was a mask-on-only solo artist who keeps his real identity concealed; alas, the producers behind the project are extremely recognizable. Pity they didn't take this as an opportunity to go incognito. The music, I think, wants disguise from distinction. 

The final track on the EP, "Quantum Verse," wonders happily into a curious and echoey melodic zone. It occassionally trips over itself and stammers while we move through cool, damp air, further into even more shimmering ambience, such that is similar to a seaside sunset. It is a sensitive and brief track, one that reminds me of Lucy's "Falling," a dreamy track that wraps up the persistent Churches Schools and Guns. Lucy has a side to his music-creating self that is housey, hopeful, haunted by moments of innocence, for, why otherwsie would this sound sneak its way in as closing tracks on several of his recent releases?

Reviewing the labels' careful roster, I wonder if a female producer will land an EP on either Stroboscopic or the Monad series. Maybe none have submitted works to the label? At least it's run by someone who performs under a female name, so it's slightly bent towards some costuming as well as acknowledgment that things seem a bit chauvinistic.

The twentieth Monad release is out July 26th.