One album that managed to stand the test of time and become a true classic of the genre. Like Daft Punk's "Homework", its influence in this style is almost ubiquitous, yet often subtlely employed. Swirling underwater textures coupled with harsh techno beats and a degree Basic Channel subtlety is the name of the game here, and listening to their solo ventures, you can easily see who brings what to the mix. Without doubt, "Nautical Dub" is the track that always does it for me; all of the elements come to a major climax here (albeit an early one) and the result is one of the most defining tracks of minimal techno. If only it was a little longer...
Porter Ricks’ “Biokinetics” is Berlin dub that got thrown overboard somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, to emerge as one of the most interesting Chain Reaction releases. It has all the hallmarks of the seminal German label: industrial percussion & beatscapes with heavy fx processing. But is has a shimmer to it that most of the other Chain Reaction releases lack, a glitter like the waves of an ocean or the scales of a fish. The tracks that don’t necessarily shimmer gurgle and ooze like seaweed in a tide pool, or sort of drift along like the flotsam that accumulates in a marina. This CD takes me somewhere that no other music can. No other CD I own manages to simultaneously sound so completely mechanic, and yet so entirely organic.
This is the music William Gibson's pilots are listening to in "Neuromancer".
Another Chain Reaction release, another metal box that eats up CDs. Hopefully, you’ll have saved Porter Ricks’ Biokinetics album in a separate container, because you don’t want it to be destroyed. The first track, “Port Gentil,” is a shimmering piece of minimalism, with all the hallmarks of the Chain Reaction sound. But the majority of the tracks here are more on the ambient tip, with industrial chugs and grunts. “Biokinetics 1” and “Biokinetics 2” are cold, haunting works. “Port of Call” goes back to the rhythmical, but the spookiness of the ambient works is still there, while “Port of Nuba” and its companion, “Nautical Nuba,” are all clicks and thumps. “Nautical Zone” ends the album on a glimmering note. Though Biokinetics isn’t quite as wonderful as some other Chain Reaction releases, it’s still worth saving!
While "Biokinetics 1" is a track that you can easily forget, Time will consider "Biokinetics 2" as one of the most astonishing track of minimal (or better yet, subliminal) techno. But it's also a landmark in the whole avantgard electronica and in Thomas Köner entire opus.
A must have, a must listenig with devoted attention, by headphones or nothing else.