It’s autumn, which means that leaves drop freely, as do new tracks in Monolake‘s ongoing “Track of the Month” series, which was on hold for much of the summer. Up currently is a 10-minute burbling of elemental techno titled “Monolake Motion Blur.” He writes in a brief explanatory note: “The material is mostly created with my Synclavier II, edited and sequenzed in Ableton Live. I believe the original version from 2004 was the result of a collaborative effort of Torsten ‘T++’ Proefrock and me, so he deserves credit here too.”
The piece will serve different purposes for different listeners — as a thorough evocation of Ableton Live, the software that Monolake (aka Robert Henke) helps program; as a languorous expanse of rhythmically succinct lounge music; as a multi-dimensional exercise in the audio equivalent of virtual reality.
As for me, I think what’s most remarkable about the track is how it reconciles a beat that is unimpeachable in its mechanical precision with sounds that suggest gears splaying, falling apart and phasing out of sync.
By the rules at Monolake’s website, one cannot link directly to the downloadable track, so just direct your browser to
monolake.de/downloads/free_track.htmlwhile your calendar still reads October.