peterMann: Init
Carpal Tunnel

A natural sequel to Carpal Tunnel's premiere release, LRAD's Fragment Syntax, init by peterMann serves up twelve similarly styled exercises in industrial, minimalist techno. The material isn't, however, techno of the conventional club kind but a more experimental-ambient type whose rhythms are more inclined to congeal than drive. A given piece eschews propulsion for a slow crawl more appropriate to meditation than movement. Not always, however: track three changes things up by dropping a more propulsive (if still slow) rhythm into its center, five works up a modest sweat in its bass-throbbing pulse, and nine likewise drapes some rather Autechre-styled beat patterning over its grinding machinery. Nevertheless, the focus in general is less on rhythm and more on atmosphere. What init basically amounts to is fifty minutes of raw noise patterns, muffled blasts, and granular rumble. Winds blow across hydraulic beat patterns that peterMann strips back to their skeletal essence while grime coats the rough landscapes' surfaces like dirt on a windshield. While peterMann is listed at the label site as a “a digital exploration on primitive sounds and raw sounds,” Anna Xambó is in fact the producer behind the project; in addition, she's—in collaboration with Gerard Roma—the co-founder of Carpal Tunnel, and Xambó and Roma are also the graphic designers responsible for the visual style of the label's site, logo, and releases.

May 2010