Carl Craig
Landcruising

A distracted and superficial listener might reduce techno to a simple repetition of unz-unz, but any true enthusiast knows that techno is perhaps the genre most capable of making the mind travel, stretching into psychedelic structures without ever losing its physical approach.

And Carl Craig is certainly one of its greatest exponents: an incorruptible experimenter striving to blend enveloping synthetic spirals with relentlessly even beats and terribly exciting; an American from Detroit (and from which other city could he have come?) he is part of the second electronic generation of the Motor City, the one that follows the three founding fathers of the genre (Atkins, May, and Saunderson). His music involves not only muscles and synapses: in his technological suites, there is always a basic disarming romanticism, which makes a sound initially icy and mechanical, human and sentimental.

"Landcruising" is his debut album (year of grace 1995: two years ago, for the tenth anniversary, a reissue containing alternative versions titled "The Album Formerly Known As..." was released), a futuristic unfolding of celestial (and spatial) melodies with a considered dancefloor rush. Almost a concept on the journey, both spiritual and real: it starts with the sound of a car starting and soon ends drifting in the universe, floating among rhythmic blasts and sonic riffs of synthesizers and keyboards.

"Mind Of A Machine" is abstract techno perfection, just as "A Wonderful Life" is exceptional and primordial IDM. "Einbahn" is perhaps the hardest track, combining a Tangerine Dream-like sonic unease with blatantly danceable rhythms; while the title track is one of the psychedelic peaks of the album (almost venturing into jungle territories) together with the concluding and ambient "Home Entertainment".

Twelve years after its release, this scant hour of music still sounds imaginative; landscapes always unknown to the human soul and extremely fascinating. Techno is, sometimes, perfect music: perhaps the only one capable of simultaneously stirring the brain, heart, and muscles.