- Ice cold electro from one of the greatest acts to ever do it.
- Despite starting out with an odd mixture of dodgy political content and goofy songs about being a scientist and having a mannequin fetish, Gerald Donald and Michaela To-Nhan Barthel's Dopplereffekt has taken a more academic slant since the turn of the millennium. More recent releases have adopted scientific jargon and focused on complex mathematics and themes ranging from Cellular Automata to brain function. Their latest, Neurotelepathy, is about fusing the human brain with artificial intelligence. As fans have come to expect from the duo, this theme is expressed almost purely through track titles (and a voiceover in the first track that intones, "Epigenetics. DNA sequencing. Phenotype modification, and morphology.") But at this point, it doesn't matter—with our without the heady jargon, Neurotelepathy is a feat of modern Detroit electro, zeroing in on the genre's unique potential for spaciness amid tough, rollicking rhythms.
Though the LP begins with the usual jaw-dropping atmospherics—the Christina Vantzou-assisted "Epigenetic Modulation" is like a machine whirring in some deadened, antiseptic room—I was surprised the first time I heard the second track slam into earshot. With a kick drum that rattles as if loosening plaster from the ceiling, "Neural Impulse Activator" feels more techno than electro. It's Dopplereffekt's answer to the new wave of flat-out techno carnage, their heaviest track since 2013's drum & bass-inspired "Delta Wave." But it's also something like fan service. The icy synth arpeggios that sprout up could have been taken from Drexciya's early Submerge records, and the uncanny, almost operatic vocals pay tribute to some of Dopplereffekt's creepiest music.
The rest of Neurotelepathy features some of the duo's richest and most evocative material ever. There are bold strokes of melody—"Cerebral Data Download 2100 A.D." is Pink Floydian in its cinematic sweep—and the stereo spectrum is used to full, sometimes spooky effect. In the electro maelstrom of "Cerebral To Cerebral Interface," an anxiety-inducing arpeggio rings out in the right channel, while slower, more patient pads float through the left, like a life-raft in the chaos.
On "Neuroplasticity," the brittle electronics and cold, empty soundscape recall Kraftwerk's technologically-minded 1981 album Computer World. The track's melodic elements are pitched to opposite ends of the mix, lending the music the truly three-dimensional feel that the duo conjure up live. The melodies oscillate frantically between channels on "Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation," an effect that's especially disorienting on headphones.
Dopplereffekt might not have invented hard-panning, but their use of atmosphere and spatial placement is key to what continues to make their music so compelling over two decades into their career. Neurotelepathy is as spare and elemental as their other albums, but it makes every sound count: each tendril of synth is extra sharp and frigid, the pads unsettling, the drums thunderous. This duo understand the fundamentals better than most. Even the ambient tracks are more alluring than ever, from the floating, lost-in-space feeling of "Cerebral - AI Entanglement" to the mere shadow of a beat on the pseudo-orchestral "Optogenetics." It's Dopplereffekt firing on all cylinders.
For an established project like Dopplereffekt, it would be easy for the music to become samey, or for the duo to rest on their laurels. And, sure, Neurotelepathy doesn't exactly revolutionize the Dopplereffekt sound. But there's something to be said for playing to your strengths, and this latest record might be Donald and Barthel's finest. You don't need to research artificial intelligence, cyborg brain enhancements or epigenetics to understand Neurotelepathy. By now, Dopplereffekt have their thing down to a science, and the Neurotelepathy at work could refer more to the duo's two minds moving in remarkable sync, still creating some of the best electro of all time more than 25 years into their career.
Tracklist01. Epigenetic Modulation
02. Neural Impulse Actuator - Mirror Neuron
03. Visual Cortex
04. Neuroplasticity
05. Cerebral data download 2100 A.D.
06. Cerebral to Cerebral Interface
07. Cerebral - AI entanglement
08. Optogenetics
09. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
10. EEG