Flexitone - Rotoreliefs EP

shapeshifter, May 25, 2003

The "Rotoreliefs EP" was available as a limited edition picture disc, and has been available since on normal black vinyl.

The graphics on the picture disc are original-sized reproductions of two classic roto-reliefs by Marcel Duchamp from the 1930s. This is the perfect conglomerate of fine arts with music as these artworks were originally intended for precisely that - rotating on a turntable!

The two rotoreliefs selected here are very beautiful to look at, and as they rotate, they create an illusion of three-dimensionality. (Others, for example, were black and white when still, but when rotating, the alternating black and white areas blended into frequency-dependant colors).

Oh yeah, the music - this is the early Ectomorph line-up (BMG and a certain Gerald), and it basically is a slight variation of that style. Even heavilier unwinding than the other Flex EP, the added slo-mo attitude requires some patience to listen through the EP in its entirety (especially if youre used to the lively, emotional, and sometimes hectic Drexciya and Dopplereffekt stuff of that time), but the full quality gets revealed the longer you listen.

This music is DEEP. Ectomorph fans will be happy, and anyone who doesnt think Electro stopped at cowbell ding-a-dong and cheap dancefloor-oriented synth lines should buy it, too. Are we ever going to hear another Flexitone record?

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