Gescom
The Sounds Of Machines Our Parents Used

For their fourth EP, the Gescom project chooses the Dutch Clear, a historic label mainly dedicated to the sound of electro, including revival (and naturally so, given the chosen name). Autechre & co act accordingly, dedicating an EP almost entirely focused on the syncopated rhythms of the enduring genre - although the cerebral-IDM approach is always present - which sees the light in 1995 with the singular title "The Sounds Of Machines Our Parents Used".

Indeed, the name says it all: the use of equipment primarily from the seventies and eighties does provide a vintage flavor to the EP, citing, recalling, paying homage, but without ever stumbling into revisionism.

"Puzl" is a long fourteen-minute track, starting with IDM micropartitions before moving into the aforementioned electro dimension, complete with futuristic riffs, spatial arpeggios, and nervous Kraftwerk school strings, yet always adhering to the '80s American style (Detroit/NY/Cybotron/Bambataa), more than the '70s Teutonic of the latter; additionally majestic is the long ambient closure with all rhythmic sections fading away, typical of Autechre of the time. Mysterious synthetic pads open up to an old-school break that launches the beautiful "Go Sumo", a track that exposes acid lines and soft technosoul melodies with a Detroit flavor, accompanied by a rich backdrop of analog accompaniments and oceanic progressions that scream "Amber". The relaxed dub-downtempo of "Go Sheep" emanates nighttime reflections, and among funk analogies, oriental arabesques, warm basslines, and never intrusive beats, it appears as a perfectly suited track to close this EP, really excellent and totally different from the contemporary "Tri Repetae" nightmares.