Monoloc – The Untold Way
The Untold Way is Monolocs second album, following his first in 2012, and the first LP ever on Dystopian.
Monoloc explores the distant realms between the pillars of genres, presenting a 12 track album of techno but not as we know it – left field, keeping a foot in ambient, with elements outside of the dancefloor. He brings together the concept of an album written in his own language of atmospheric patterns, melodies and fragments of words and voices. Instead of functional four to the floor tracks he explores the meaning and depths of dark, melancholic music.
The album unfolds into a 12 chapter story of his musical style with many surprises and twists along the way. ‘The Untold Way’ starts with the ambient ‘Revive’, slow and gentle yet apprehensive. As the listener moves through the album they catch glimpses of almost formed club tracks, in ‘The Untold Way’, ‘Michigan Lights’, ‘Gravity Growl’ and ‘Alighting’. These have remnants of a dancefloor impression, a prominent beat is there, but not much more.
At other points you see Monoloc’s more experimental side. ‘No GHSTS’ featuring Tijana T evokes a resounding beat filling an empty space, with the occasional piano melody and eerie vocal. ‘Cloning Society’ is beatless, driven merely by a consistent bass and echoing voice. The album is interspersed with short ambient interludes, each just a few minutes long: ‘Lowa’ and ‘Gently Falls’, serene and reflective, give the listener time to breathe. And bringing you back to familiarity are more the dancefloor focussed tracks of the LP, ’Momentum’ and ‘Muted’. The twelfth and last track is ‘Ground Disorder’, which brings the album to a halt with an air of nostalgia.
The result is a story, a history in twelve chapters that the listener is guided through like the landscapes of a gothic horror film, with a new twist on the percussion or surprising effect hidden behind every bass sound, waiting to excite and delight.
Cover photography by Philipp Pusch (http://www.philipp-pusch.de), artwork by Sebastian Manger (http://www.sebastianmanger.de).
Released november 2016 on vinyl and CD.
A1 Revive
A2 The Untold Way
A3 Lowa
B1 No GHSTS feat. Tijana T
B2 Momentum
B3 Michigan Lights
C1 Gently Falls
C2 Cloning Society
C3 Muted
D1 Gravity Growl
D2 Alighting
D3 Ground Disorder