Johannes Heil - 20.000 Leagues Under The Skin

Hypnotic and driving, Johannes Heil's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SKIN delivers solid techno throughout, whether the trance leanings of "Part 4" or the more thumping beats of the more Basic Channel-inspired "Part 5." The sounds are clean and bright, the production beyond reproach. "Part 6," for instance, shines forth like a lighthouse amongst choppy waters, while "Part 11" is a calm drift through a dark tunnel and into port. The simplicity to the urgent push of "Part 8" puts most overblown trance to shame. Sometimes, simplier, when done with attention to dynamics and tone, works better. The final track, the deep and dark "Part 1" is a testament to this. While the individual parts are spare, looped tones, their layering gives the track a weight and heft. Dig deep!

This is one of the rare albums that can convert people to "modern electronic music". I have played it to a friend of mine who till then had no distinctive interest in music (some R.E.M. some sondtracks) and got him really hooked up. Continued his journey towards good taste with some Kompakt releases from here on. Great music can change people.

Approaching this particular release presents a bit of a dilemma. In good old-fashioned Rick Wakeman form, all of the songs bear the same song title, but are different movements of an entire composition, numbered out of sequence. Does it make more sense to program the CD player to listen to the album according to the order of its parts, or is it better to listen straight through? Either way it's sequenced, 20,000 Leagues Under the Skin is an excursion into the future of techno done tastefully. Hypnotic percussion workouts are deep-fried in some dubbed-out keyboard washes that would fit right at home on classic Chain Reaction records (especially "Pt. 05," which is really song two on the disc) or recent recordings by Detroit minimalist Theorem ("Pt. 11," which is actually song number six). Heil knows how to pull out all the stops, attacks, beats, breaks, and washes with great versatility. He knows when to pull out all the stops and when to let a composition breathe as opposed the time-honored tech-house tradition of layering loop upon loop. Lacking filler from start to finish, 20,000 Leagues Under the Skin is easily his most focused and accomplished full-length to date. ~ Rob Theakston.