When I read what Robert Henke had written on the Monolake website I thought "What a load of pretentious wanky drivel." but then I listened to the album and I realised I was absolutely right. The new LP, 'Silence', should really have been just that.
I actually really liked Monolake's older stuff; it managed to blend elements of dub, techno, and minimalist drum & bass. Their first three records, Cyan, Magenta and HongKong were perfect ambient records and paved the way for the really early, breaksy dubstep.
Since then, though, they seem like they're just trying too hard to be 'weird'. There's intellectual snobbery in here somewhere, I'm just not sure if it's mine or theirs.
The whole concept of the album (by now alarm bells should have shattered your eardrums) was that music recorded live before digital cleanups and whatnot had dynamics - i.e. some bits would be louder, some softer, etc. - and that this was a golden age. The fact is, there's very little else to this album and it comes off as a really tedious experiment that I could've survived quite happily without hearing.
It's such a shame because they used to be such pioneers, both members now run Ableton Live full time, but now I can't help but feel like they're just doing it for the sake of it, and at times simply going through the motions - especially on the opening track.
For a much better experience just ignore this album and go back to their early stuff. And try to stay away from all the showing off and techno-cockery.
On the upside, Torsten Pröfrock also produces really spiffy dubstep as T++. His remix of 'Death Is Not Final' for Shackleton has taken off a storm on the ol' blogosphere. Go, prosper and stay away from this album.
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