Haujobb
"Polarity"
Metropolis Records
Looks as though Daniel Myer has out done himself. His main job as leader of Haujobb has come to a new pinacle. When he's not working with his bandmates on Haujobb material, he sure does enjoy hittin' the road solo style to dj around the world...and this has definitely helped with the Haujobb sounds.
I first heard a Haujobb song when they did one of the Remix Wars cds with :Wumpscut:. It was great, I was introduced to a new band (Haujobb) that seemed incredibly inovative blending old and new styles of industrial; and found new remixes of another band I had just discovered only months prior (:wumpscut:). Well subsequent releases from Haujobb didn't live up to the remixes, which i finally wrote off as the heavy :wumpscut: influence. Now, they come out with their latest on Metropolis, Polarity. Myer must have listened to a lot of Warp Records techno before writing this material. Aphex Twin and Autechre are more than just hinted at in the bulk of this album.
The album has 19 tracks on it, but 10 of the tracks are simply short soundscapes, which should have been explored a bit more. Some are simply amazing and end up pissing you off when they're over in :30 seconds. The beats come hard and complex as well as soft and simple, a definite homage to some older Autechre. Even the vocals get a few effects added at points, a little reverb here an echo there and things are just strange enough. The themes seem to revolve mostly around alienation (that old standby) and technology (surely a constant in this bands world. There are lyrics on all of the full songs, which is sometimes irritating but for the most part they are mostly just another part of the composition. This is still my favorite cd that Haujobb has put out to date. Definitely worth checking out. Try the Metropolis Records site, or try the official Haujobb site, for samples and more info.
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