Minimal, big room, classic lush techno. Heiko Laux had managed his Berlin label, Kanzleramt, for 4 years before releasing his first album entitled “Liquidism” in summer 1998. The first track, Earthbouncing [Pt 1], creates an incredible first impression of the record and has stuck with me this past month as a notably well-arranged, mixed and imagined piece of art. The hats shimmer and dance with the synths in and out of the mix, teasing the listener’s desire to inevitably hear all elements of the track together again in harmony. I have fun audibly dissecting, listening again and again to tracks like this because the approach, the grain delay on the synth, the fitting amount of reverb on all the drums and overall arrangement feel, instinctually, like decisions I would make while recording. To put it simply, it’s my kinda style.
The Liquidism album is still available on Discogs; it’s also on Beatport digitally, but the audio quality sounds awful and not worth downloading. The youtube rip of Earthbouncing above is the only listenable version online for now.
*Footnote: I decided to listen to Heiko Laux’s earlier albums after DJing at Justin’s apartment last month, when he put on a Tresor compilation record from 1999 with a single from Heiko on it. For whatever reason, I had previously assumed Heiko is closer to my age when in fact he’s been recording techno almost as long as I’ve been alive. Amazing.
Jackson Ryland 