Monad XIX

The Monad releases by Stroboscopic Artefacts are one of the most successful serial adventures in modern techno, utilizing an ethic of mysterious unfoldings to elicit new expressions from both veteran and relatively new producers. The latest installment in this growing archive issues from the mind of Mike Jefford's Positive Centre. His is a project whose name is steeped in the same type of intriguing ambiguity as the Monad series: a 'positive centre' could refer to the dense nucleus of an atom or to some hermetic and purposeful organization, though all interpretations point to some thing or phenomena defined by intensity and essentialism.

The same can easily be said about the musical contents of this new EP release. On "Great Excavator," Positive Centre lays out its intentions quickly and unequivocally, with a continually layering and hypnotically captivating arabesque of percussive sounds and accents. With only traces of a melody line or bassline, the opener engages the listener with its tactile aggressiveness, and encourages involuntary muscular twitches as if the stimuli were delivered through carefully placed electrodes. Unlike such an experimental procedure, though, this track's stealthy variance in syncopation offers a unique narrative quality rarely achieved... more