Misanthrop
Analog

The second time’s a charm. Michael Braeuninger returns with his moniker Misanthrop on Neosignal label, presenting a new album that is definitely more successful than the previous one. Let’s be clear, it’s still a little record made in two days on whatever DAW is around, but in these times, we are content with little, and the true masterpieces of electronic music are almost all behind us. But let’s not be pessimistic, Analog is a nice album, fascinating, dark, and with an almost cinematic leitmotif, partly inspired by the more experimental and bizarre compositions from the German producer. But it works, and that's what matters. The first significant step was eliminating vocal samples and not falling into featuring some guests to attract the mainstream. Analog is a small 40-minute instrumental album (that's how it goes these days) somewhat hostile, reminiscent of a mix between Vangelis and the SID chip of the Commodore 64.

Actually, a vocal sample is present only in the introductory track Analog, with the word “Analog” repeated and dispersed in a digital void. The main theme of the album is precisely the slightly retro synths with a heavy reverb effect, present in every track and creating a decent atmosphere, making it often feel like one is standing in front of the soundtrack of a hypothetical sci-fi movie. Deus immediately opens up the rhythm, compressed snare to unheard levels as is now the trademark of Neosignal artists, mixed with a clapper and a typical neurofunk-dnb genre progression, yet very minimal, purposefully barren and futuristic. Neute Nacht continues in the same vein but adds quite interesting grainy melodic parts; there's a very precise progression that captures attention, although enclosed in a very, very schematic pattern perspective. Turbine further intensifies the snare, with the kick beat being practically the stock one of any DAW, so there's not much effort needed. Plastik features a more nervous and mechanical cadence, with a throbbing bassline, while Feel is probably the track with the most melodic component, despite the rhythm being always tense and constant.

Space Station opens a more brutal part of the album. The snare is more violent and the menacing bassline almost seems to disintegrate, making it one of the most striking tracks of the album, while Dada is not exactly a novelty for those who have followed the collaborations between Misanthrop and Stoner, as it resembles Venere a lot with its unconventional offbeat rhythm and fascinating sound design. Very menacing and rather unsettling but essentially already heard. Atlas slows down to a martial cadence and various tricks similar to the Neosignal productions - as artists, not the label - always produced by Braeuninger with Phace, so we're always at home. Non Stop closes the album in an energetic way with a tech-electro timbre, but even here, it is not an overly original attempt because the track resembles too much I Need More by the same Misanthrop.

Basically, Misanthrop had fun for 40 minutes with some new analog vst and some minimal-neurofunk rhythms, but with a good result and an album that holds up throughout its duration, without weak or less successful parts, only some already heard if you follow the artist. Still, a valid album that I didn’t dislike at all, well done.