- The first Zenker Brothers solo album dives deep into a dub abyss.
- My favourite thing about Marco Zenker's debut album is how, after a run of wonky, dubbed-out techno tracks, Channel Balance suddenly dives into some of the wispiest, most obscure ambient music Ilian Tape has ever put to wax. It's a surprising inversion of the usual techno album format—ambient intro and outros, dance music within—that creates a black hole in the middle of the album. It catches your attention—and there are enough interesting textures in "Far Out G" (not to mention the tectonic drift of "Outlaw Inn," which sounds like a slowed-down Hans Zimmer epic) to keep it—but it also sounds like the kind of wacky decision you'd make while stoned. Ten minutes of zoned-out ambience between blazing techno? Why the hell not.
There's always been a haze to Ilian Tape albums, particularly the work of the founding Zenker Brothers, and there's so much smoke hanging in the air on Channel Balance it's practically sooty. Aside from the mid-album drop into nothingness, the LP has plenty of what you'd hope for from a full-length on the label: quick-footed drum & bass techno hybridism ("Silent City"), precocious and complex beat science ("High Larry"), smokescreened dub techno ("The Tibet Terrier"). The textures are simultaneously blurry and rich, which you can hear on the excellent "Resistance," which gleams in the murk—filter envelopes opening up and swallowing as if Zenker was fiddling with the knobs until he found just the right silvery texture, then resetting everything again.
This restlessness pervades the album, and makes it a pleasure to listen to all the way through. Following the trippy techno of "The TIbet Terrier," you've got "Wave Mode," which is probably the wonkiest thing Zenker's ever touched, with hints of breakbeat flooded by synths that slosh like tidal waves crashing onto the shore. It's topsy-turvy and weirdly funky, adding to the pantheon of weirdo 2022 tracks like "Caterpillar" and "Honey Badger." And then right after that is "Carefree," which feels like a combination of Chicago house with Paradox-style drumfunk. The chords are supple, and the drums are slippy.
I could go on. There's also "Switch Stance," a punchy broken techno track with an indulgently wobbling LFO bassline—another easy highlight. But I've named almost every track now, and I haven't even included the wonderful closer, "One Thousand," with its yawning chords and melodramatic sweep, the kind of thing that would make an unforgettable closer on a big mix CD. It wraps up an album full of surprises and gentle left turns and quietly gorgeous techno. Ilian Tape's music has always bridged the gap between techno, dub and UK-inspired styles like drum & bass and dubstep, and on Channel Balance, all these genres become one wobbly, jello-like mass of funk, melody and, of course, smoke.
Tracklist01. Intuition Dub
02. The Tibet Terrier
03. Wave Mode
04. Carefree
05. Switch Stance
06. Far Out G
07. Outlaw Inn
08. Resistance
09. Silent City
10. High Larry
11. Noviex Cult
12. One Thousand