"This first album of DASK is the perfect one for those who miss the TD's sequencing patterns of the 70's"
1 Electron Utopia 13:04 2 Lorentz Force 19:02 3 Desert Synchrotron 5:52 4 Electron Transfer 10:48 5 Electron Transfer (Station Remix) 8:35 SynGate | DASK01
(CD/DDL 57:21) (V.F.) (Sequencer-based Berlin School)
DASK (Danish Arithmetic Sequence Calculator) is the very last new artist to join the SynGate Records label. We have not much information on this artist who remains anonymous, except that he is an engineer in sound which rolls its bump for more than 30 years in the field of the electronics. And since a good 10 years he experiments diverse field recordings as well as techniques of synthesizers, except that he has never recorded them yet. Not being a musician of formation, he always wondered if a not professionally trained musician helps or not to create music as good as a music composed by a professionally trained one. Attracted by the music of Tangerine Dream of the 70's and more recently by the music of Redshift and other artists who use the presence of heavy and hyperactive sequencer, DASK proposes a first album molded on a strong presence of heavy rhythms and of morphic landscapes very floating of the vintage years of the Berlin School style. A first appealing rendezvous which let's think of a future more than interesting for the many fans of the genre! The title-track begins this journey at the heart of sequencers with an introduction weaved in soundscapes soaked of cosmic perfumes. Slow layers of synth in tones filled with reverberations glide and weave in and out through stars, so pushing aside the relative tranquility of the cosmos, and scattering sound prisms which fly with their radiant outlines. We are in morphic Berlin School with this intersidereal journey which melt in a beautiful movement of a sequencer and of its keys which move with the fury tied to the beat. The fluid and oscillatory rhythm of Electron Utopia is filled with the charms of the trio Baumann, Franke and Froese with juicy sequences which hammer a rhythmic as well lively as a duet of unicorns which make a thousand kicks in a magical universe. The rhythm is sometimes disentangled and cavorts awkwardly under a thick cloud of very shy effects. That does very TD, but something at the level of synths is missing here. And it's a little the problem of ELECTRON UTOPIA. The synths weave the ambiences and the sequencer handles the rhythm. The meeting point between both elements is very small, so splitting ambio-morphic intros which lack a little of reliefs and structures of rhythms which lack a little of decoration. But the aficionados of an excessively sequenced Berlin School will be delighted by this first album of DASK on SynGate. The long introduction (more than 7 minutes) of Lorentz Force is flooded under howling and hollow winds. Faithful to its acronym, DASK wants to put in music the combination of electric and magnetic force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. These winds, thus, throw themselves into the din of a resonant sequence which hammers a linear rhythmic unity and finally a beautiful structure of more harmonious rhythm where the sequences dance and hop with effects of Pink Floyd in the elements of ambiences. The nuances in the structure thwart the redundant effect just with what one needs that to seduce a listening which is even more charmed when the rhythm overflows with more fluidity. Desert Synchrotron modulates a big 5 minutes of ambiences with howler winds which mask a little too much the effects of guitar and other effects which would give more panache to the effects of loops of this storm of static elements. But Electron Transfer takes the lead, both titles should have been linked imo, with a short intro molded on the vestiges of Desert Synchrotron, I like the effect of the train, which evaporates in order to leave the room to a nervous and lively structure of rhythm. Here, DASK is not so shy to spread effects and fragments of melodies which make very TD. In fact, Electron Transfer is the most beautiful title here, even its Station Remix is well done, with a delicious rhythmic pattern, inspired of that of Froese, in Stuntman, which never stop to evolve while maintaining its charms. A very good title which ends a solid first opus of DASK and which is more inspiring that disappointing. I liked 50 minutes on 57 minutes. It isn't that bad, no! Sylvain Lupari (May 29th, 2017) ***½**
Available at DASK Bandcamp
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