About this product
Product Identifiers
Record LabelOstgut Ton
UPC4250101409264
eBay Product ID (ePID)3050195722
Product Key Features
Release Year2019
FormatVinyl
GenreR&B
TypeLP
ArtistBarker (Sam Barker)
Release TitleUtility *
Additional Product Features
DistributionForced Exposure
Country/Region of ManufactureGermany
ReviewsPitchfork (Website) - "For anyone who has ever fantasized about dissolving into the dancefloor, the debut solo album from techno artist Sam Barker is as close as it gets."
Additional informationPrior to 2018, Sam Barker was known for making intricately designed, functional techno as one half of Barker & Baumecker, as well as co-founding Leisure System, the event series and label which expanded the scope of Berghain, booking more experimental acts than the purist techno commonly associated with the Berlin superclub. With his 2018 solo EP Debiasing, Barker introduced a cascading form of techno that reaches towards the euphoria of trance without falling back on any of its clichéd elements -- most outstandingly, doing so without the usage of kick drums. The release was hailed as a fresh evolution of techno, and built up anticipation for a full-length. Utility expands on the unique sound of Debiasing, additionally pushing it in a few other directions. Many of the album's pieces consist of lapping textural waves that glide over a ticking rhythmic frame, with too much of a propulsive force to seem like they're staying in one place but no obvious sense of progression. Still, there's something so spirited about the tracks that it feels like they're transporting you somewhere. Perhaps this is the sound of techno having an out-of-body experience, hovering a few yards above the dancefloor. The album swings between light and dark moods, dipping into haunting dub-techno territory with "Gradients of Bliss" before hinging back towards neo-trance with "Hedonic Treadmill." "Models of Wellbeing" is ecstatic and shimmering, sounding like it could burst at any minute yet retaining a calm demeanor. "Utility" pushes further, beginning with a sunny arpeggio sequence in the vein of Manuel Göttsching's E2-E4 before a hint of EQ'd drum'n'bass breakbeats flicker in. The trip ends on a surprisingly sullen note with "Die-Hards of the Darwinian Order," a clanky nine-minute crawl evoking Boards of Canada at their most bummed out. Barker's work expands the boundaries of techno, breaking free of the grid and touching on some of the most emotionally resonant aspects of the genre, and it's not hard to imagine a new school of electronic musicians taking cues from Utility in the future. ~ Paul Simpson
Number of discs1
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