TESTicular Salute to LUKE SLATER, Wireless James Bond of Aggro-Techno

CMJ New Music Report British techno-electro figurehead Luke Slater sees his consistently growing fame as a means of tantalizing and twisting more minds, prompting him to push each one of his productions a tad to the left of its predecessor. Following the sleek lushness of 1997's Freek Funk, Slater offers up a more bombastic vision with Wireless. Freaky funk and unbridled beats remain Slater's weapons of choice, but his attack is dirtier and more daring this time around, coupling taut electro rhythms with washes of static, ear-bleeding techno noise and moody atmospherics. Cuts such as "All Exhale" and "Body Freefall, Electronic Inform" drop like bombs and demand your compliance, while "You Butterfly" and "I Thought I Knew You" creep along with sinister sonic urgency. The power of this grandiose release is not to be overlooked or underestimated.

The musical ghosts of Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Mantronix, and Bambaataa hover in the air as one listens to Luke Slater's Wireless, a far more focused, four-on-the-floor, electro-flavored platter than his vibrantly all-over-the-place 1997 debut Freek Funk. But don't worry--Wireless pays distinct homage to the past, yet this is one of those rare CDs that pushes the envelope of techno forward while partying all night like tomorrow will never come. It's a cheerful record that's difficult to describe without sounding cheesy; it rarely lags in energy even during the moody, deranged downtempo bits such as "Bolt Up." Created with layers of live drums and electrobreaks, and in a manner that coaxes the most emotion possible out of every musical gesture, the CD is a maximalist triumph, a study in the essential contradictions (man vs. machine; robot vs. human) that characterize life at the turn of the century. You can totally dance to it, too. --Mike McGonigal

LUKE SLATER is the James Bond of techno. "Wireless" is his new album, recorded in the surrounds of his Space Station studio, these tracks redefines electro for the next millennium....Breathtaking, scary, moving, funky; it's a techno album that's not techno, a disco album that's not disco, an industrial album that's not industrial, there is no way to pin down Slater's NovaMute debut. Swinging violently from nonconformist techno assaults to statuesque moments of grandeur, to funk driven rare groove workouts, the album breaks techno down to it's composite parts and then stretches them to their limits. Opening with the funk-driven `Purely', we are then transported to `Score One', a darkly futuristic soundscape which melts into `Origin' and `Score Two', a bubbling mass of weird sounds and deep beats. The trip continues throughout the album with the warped relatives `Scores Three And Four', popping up intermittently throughout proceedings with the stealth of a John Carpenter score. Electro gets a nod with `Are You There', with it's rich string arrangements and soothing waves of bell chimes this is a `Tour De France' for the 1990's. `Bless Bless' is a different creature altogether, a spacedusted silver surfer's anthem. And onwards to `Time Dancer', where James Brown meets Liz Frazer on a car production line - ethereal industrial funk if you like. And not to forget the stellar beauty of `Love' that ranks alongside UR's `Amazon' as a track to break hearts at 40 beats and the otherworldly madness of `Walking The Line', a jazz odyssey that conjures forth the Saturnalian spirit of Sun Ra. Schizophrenic and rampagingly original, Slater has achieved what so many aspire to, a unique and accessible album that pushes the musical envelope further than anyone else. With plans to further his transformative powers into song structures and a muted plan to take a full band out live, Luke Slater is not content to merely stay ahead of the incessant marching beat of the dance rhythm. This album owes as much to musical mavericks as Brian Wilson as to the industrial grind of Detroit, to the groundbreaking strides left by Kraftwerk, Steve Reich and Can. Future music, made today.

Wireless sees Slater expanding his range as a producer into backbeat-driven styles like old-school rap and electro, a far cry from the pummeling techno of his youth but no less intriguing despite the fact. From a lesser techno producer, Wireless would smack of a breakbeat sell-out, an album that simply trades in Chemical Brothers' and Fatboy Slim's brand of old-school techno. But just as Moby wisely stuck to his melodic strengths while crafting a breakbeat-inspired album (the same year's Play), Slater never deserts his strongpoints -- intense, pummeling drum programming. There is a big difference, here; Slater's not just reaching for copies of old blues records and drum breaks. The tracks here are upfront, sinister, electro-inspired throwbacks, songs like "Sum Ton Tin, " "Hard Knock Rock" and "Body Freefall, Electronic Inform" that throw dozens of electro effects into the pot with a subtle flair, from deep vocoder vocals to acid squelches to waves of synth menace. Wireless is a listen that's immediately rewarding and compelling. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

Order direct from \

Check out Luke Slater's homepage

Return to TESTicle PRESSure