Thomas Brinkmann: Klick Revolution [cd Max Ernst]

I think Thomas Brinkmann is a fucking genius. I love all his work. His Soul Center* stuff alone would rank him among the greatest, but his ultra-minimal records (like his Hawtin and Studio 1 variations) are even a tad better. This newest, Klick Revolution, on one of his many labels (Max Ernst in this case), seems made up out of mere static. He has taken short samples from an array of records (all neatly mentioned with picture) but you have the distinct feeling that he has only retained the crackles and the pops, the skips and the dirt in the grooves. The original melodies, if there ever were any, have been shredded and then randomly restructured. As all good minimal techno composers (with those we mean the kind of producers whose records do not actually sound like a collection of mixed-together farts) he begins all his randomly named numbers with disparate elements that at first would seem to go to war with each other and it can take two to three minutes before you start to discern any melodic element. But once it is there and you have noticed it, you are bound to have that melody racing around in your brain for the next few hours. There are only six tracks so you know he is going to take his time developing and creating minimal rhythmic soundscape structures. And he does exactly that and it grabs you by the balls with sheer invention and that unique fingerspitzengefühl for embracing every idea, however crazy, demented or just plain wrong. Klick Revolution sounds like a collection of mistakes that, brought together, in the end sound like they were the right thing all along. Those who remember the Various Artists 12-inch on Chain Reaction should really investigate this one. Snap, crackle and pop to the Max!