Automat (2) ‎– Electrospectif 1997/2004

Easily one of the top ten electro releases of the last decade. Automat produces dark, spacey, bass-heavy trax influenced by the classic Detroit operators but in a style that really isn't like anything else out there. Elements of acid and techno are successfully hybridized with a minimalist electro sensibility. His tracks are never cluttered--they seem spacious like the best dub, which lets the hard-hitting space marine drum programming and mind- and speaker-blowing basslines come to the fore. Seriously, I've listened to a lot of electro and Automat writes some of the best basslines I've ever heard; they slither and pulse as if his synths had evolved into new kinds of lifeforms. The synth work is insanely tweaked and distorted yet quite catchy at the same time--any track on here can get stuck in your head, which is always an achievement for electronic producers. The album's amazing from start to finish, but my favorite tracks are "Black Star," a sinister, acid-drenched anthem that makes you feel as if you've emerged on the other side of a wormhole and "Miss Valor," with its rude bass, pummeling percussion and super-tweaked, constantly mutating melodies.