Time Modem - Transforming Tune

Another favorite album of mine.

Released on legendary BOY records, a label with a rich history of very interesting releases and somewhat underrated. This album is a mixture of different styles, some uptempo trancy tracks, some slow new beat-ish track, some ebm-influenced. Above all, this is a mysterious and dark album. There are some lush strings on certain tracks, but the addition of great FX and pads turn them into driving menacing tunes. The inclusion of some old German movie-samples is great, they really add to the atmosphere. You can compare them to the style used by "Klangwerk", another influential German act.

I wish this album included "time of the gathering", their single from a few years earlier, that would be the icing on the top ;)

I found this in a used CD store and it sounded worthy of further investigation when I tried it out, so I bought it. There is definitely a significant amount of Kraftwerk influence, but the focus here tends to be more on dark, atmospheric dancefloor fare...the kind of album that would feel right at home in the collection of Dieter (from the SNL skit "Sprockets"). Opening with the brooding, half-tempo "Wibanah", you aren't really sure what you're going to get from this album (dark industrial?). However, the follow-up cut sets the predominant tone - a pulsating techno number complete with vocodered vocal and German drama film samples. Overall, it's pretty solid.