An electronic classic
C. Quinn | County Louth, Eire | 07/23/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've always liked Cristian Vogel's off-kilter take on techno, whether as a solo artist or as Super_Collider, but Station 55 goes beyond the fidgety eclecticism of his earlier recordings and gels into a genuine synthesis of all the genres he's absorbed and mastered so far.
It's also a record very much of the moment: Vogel has one eye on the icy teutonic electronica of DJ Hell and Parallax Corporation, and another on Luke Vibert's and Funkstorung's recent revitalisations of the acid house template (the sounds rather than the rhythms). Fortunately for us he keeps his third eye firmly focused on just making excellent music -- the highlight being "On the Line", which builds from a wash of impressionistic bleeps into the driving, funk-tinged techno that he does so brilliantly -- so "Station 55" is never just retro and never, ever descends into mere pastiche.
That's not to say he's incapable of the odd kitschy moment, and there are times when "Station 55" recalls the high-camp gothicism of Laibach or the postmodern cut-n-paste 'poetry' of early Underworld.
The key word here is synthesis, though. Whether he's banging out the gabba-meets-Led-Zeppelin sci-fi of "1968.Holes" or sneaking an acoustic guitar into the last trickles of "Lovelights", this always sounds like a proper album, not just a grab-bag of 12" experiments -- the way Orbital's brown album or Underworld's "Second Toughest in the Infants" sounded like proper albums. Although it sounds nothing like those two records, it does sound like a stone-cold classic electronica/dance album. Like I said, I always liked Vogel, but I never expected him to transcend genres the way he has here. Everyone should hear him on this form."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1