Artist: Cristian Vogel
Album: The Assistenz
Label: Shitkatapult
Release Date: 02/09/2016
BBC Radio 6 Music DJ and music journalist, Mary Ann Hobbs, was the first to give Cristian Vogel radio airplay with a selected track from his latest installation, The Assistenz. Hobbs introduced the Chilean-born, Barcelona-based producer's new full-length issue with an explanation of how by design, his intentions were to manufacture a blend of sounds that connect with the nervous system to affect a direct, immediate emotional response.
When you consider that the chosen title for the eight-tracker, The Assistenz, is named after a cemetery in Copenhagen – the burial site of a large number of Danish notables – including authors, painters, philosopher and musicians, it wouldn't be an oversight to infer that inspiration was gained from digging into the lives of those buried there, or from experiencing the emotional sensitivity felt in an area densely packed with the deceased. However, it follows 2014's Polyphonic Beings and stands as a tribute to Copenhagen as a whole, with him briefly residing in Denmark's capital and recording the album here. Furthermore, its arrival concludes a four-year creative burst with its being the final piece to what now stands as a trio of dance floor orientated records when added to 2012's The Inertials, and the forementioned Polyphonic Beings.
What is glaringly apparent from the offset with 'Hold' is that Cristian's ability to build tracks from a molecule level is seemingly infinite. The thudding, blistering clatters which unfold and mutate engulf the mind and body in such a way that it needs to be understood that Vogel isn't composing with one purpose in mind. He cannot presume how a listener will interact and react to a craft as sonically convoluted as 'Hold' and nor does he seek to – he leaves it to us to decipher ourselves.
Succeeding tracks, such as 'Snowcrunch', 'Vessels' and 'Telemorphis', set in motion an episodic formulae with skittering rhythms overriding preceding equilibriums, and in cases retaining only the manufactured ingredients that had reached maturity midway through each track. Despite being able to locate distant vocalised “ahhhs” hidden among mechanical vibrations in 'Vessels', up until this point, signs of human life cease to exist. 'Barefoot Agnete' distinctly changes direction with a dubby centrepiece laden with echoing, chattering, singing tones.
As a producer who began experimenting with his own compositions in the late '80s, he is an artist in every sense of the word. He doesn't pertain to one narrative style and is constantly evolving, which not only appeases his own creative ambitions, but also stimulates those he seeks to engage with.
WORDS | Aimee Lawrence
Tracklist
1. Hold
2. Snowcrunch
3. Vessels
4. Telemorphosis
5. Barefoot Agnete
6. Cubic Haze
7. Signal Symbol
8. The Merman's Dream
