Thomas Brinkmann - Untitled

Love him or hate him, Thomas Brinkmann truly is the Marmite of minimal techno; and while his musical direction is questionable of late, nowhere is his genious more apparent than the Max Ernst label. In particular, Max Ernst 2, 3 and 4 where he takes the instantly recognisable sound of his Ernst label and gives it a jazz overhaul, complete with offbeat percussion, sultry piano licks, and in the case on Max Ernst 4, a clarinet that will first have the whole room wondering if they are hearing things, followed by a swarm of grinning people wanting to know what you are playing.

If at first you don't 'get' these tracks, persevere, because here Brinkmann managed to create an individual sound within the techno genre which cannot be imitated; an all too rare occurrence these days. It's a real shame the early releases on Max Ernst were overlooked as they as essential to any techno collector as the Basic Channel label (no, really). Buy on sight.