Monolake – Interstate

This would be a real beauty for a well pressed vinyl release

Maybe one of my favourite from Robert Henke's production. A sweet blend of ambient, electronica and deep dubby techno built in a very colourfull and cohesive way. Tangent 2 has been a long favourite dub techno track of mine. Gecko is a great electroinca track that could have been published by warp records, while Amazon is a nice little ambient track in an"early 90s chillout fashion". highly recommanded album.

One of the best electronic music albums of all time. Why o why is it not pressed to wax

i bought the album when it came out in 99....sounded futuristic and different. i stood the test of time and is still exciting, not dated like much of the electronic stuff from the 90s. robert henke developd a very individual signature sound, which is a great and only a few electronic musicians like boards of canada have that quality. very analytical, sometimes cold sound, which mixes minimal techno, ambient and listening electronica. the stuff under his own name is more experimental and works perfekt with the installations for which a lot is created.
he is also one of the best sounddesigners for sure, very precise and with love of details. best with a good headphone!

No suprise that this release sounds most 'like' Hong Kong' as it's the next one chronologically speaking. But already something is happening, simpler beats and suspended notes are making way. Reverb soaked rhythms skitter more into front centre, a little basic channel influence here, some dub there. Ambience is being eschewed in favour of a bolder style of confident techno. Well crafted and a different beast to the painstakingly artificial ambience of 'Gobi'. Monolake are on the move.

This is not ive listening music and Perpetuum is like brain surgery while you're awake.

xenlab is right, but does little to describe this, one of monolakes masterworks, so another review is warrented. monolake is one of the best and most creative artists to come out of the chain reaction camp, which is saying alot, since most of the artists on that seminal imprint went on to release some incredible music (vladislav delay, fluxion, porter ricks, etc). interstate will always have a special place for me, and likely many others as well, as it truly sounds like nothing else out there. still, to this day, this is an album that stands alone, without any peer. deeply aquatic, like sitting on a skiff in the middle of the swamp, listening to crickets, midges and birds flit about, every track on the record evokes heavy atmosphere, and flows seemlesly into the next. the album is anchored by a strong dub backbone, but this is highly original dub, mainly due to each track being so rhythmically engaging, unorthodox, and complex. stereo is used to great affect throughout, and each sound is carefully crafted. it's like an alien landscape at times, so luch, and so beautiful. it's the kind of record that can sit alongside top albums by the black dog, aphex twin, the orb and model 500, not because it necessarily sounds like any of those records, but because it is so endearingly orignal that it will stand the test of time as a classic without parallel. although highly rhythmic, i do think of this as "ambient" for its atmosphere, and one of the best electronic albums released in past 20 years. if you have not already, do yourself a favour and consume immediatly!

monolake blends minimal glitch with warm dub-like synths to create pulsing soundscapes that are at once captivating and danceable. Their 'Cinemascope' release realizes this more fully then this freshman release. Good things are sure to come from these guys. Stay Tuned.