- NovaMute was key during techno's early days, releasing landmark records from the likes of Plastikman, Speedy J and Luke Slater. Returning after nearly a decade earlier this year, it's back with an EP from Terence Fixmer, who's currently in the throes of a renaissance. Besides keeping the EBM flame burning with Nitzer Ebb's Douglas McCarthy, Fixmer's hypnotic techno and trademark sound design has found a home at Ostgut Ton. His second EP for the label landed this summer, another quintessential Berghain record. Dance Of The Comets is another space-themed techno record, but it's approached in true Fixmer form.
The title track is for the dance floor. With tough kicks and swirling synth lines, it's turbulent and high-energy—classic Fixmer. The rest of the EP is more adventurous. "Orion" is physical, with a relentless buzzing loop that feels like it's drilling into you. Elsewhere sounds are slowly modulated into droopy dips and squelchy peaks, throwing chaos into the regimented rhythms. "The Silence" is the most abstract track, where air escapes from vents and whooshing noises gesture towards some kind of lost in space scenario, made all the more dramatic by alarm bells and tense atmospherics.
TracklistA1 Dance Of The Comets
B1 Orion
B2 The Silence