[MMM]

Every once in a while a record comes along that changes things entirely. OK, perhaps MMM’s Donna, first released in 1997, didn’t quite change electronic music as we know it, but it was a deliciously raucous slice of near-perfect raved-up techno. Erik (Errorsmith) and Fiedel are hardly a prolific duo, releasing only their fourth record, Nous Sommes MMM, two years after their third and a full 13 years after Donna. What they lack in quantity of tunes they most assuredly make up for in the quality of their productions, which will all but transform any club environment into a dusty old warehouse located on the outskirts of town.

“Nous Sommes MMM” is decidedly simply yet extremely effective. Consisting of little-to-no percussion aside from a couple of tambourine hits and a pummeling kick drum, it ratchets up the tension with filtered white noise and a slurring, grimy synth line. It keeps on building until it finally collapses under its own weight, resulting in a wash of white noise and, of course, an air horn (wouldn’t be a rave without one, eh?). “Let’s Git It On” opts for more of a groove and is primed for capable DJs’ hands (as exhibited on Fiedel’s recent and excellent Wax Treatment podcast). Hand-claps, a frenetic ride cymbal and a gritty bass line mingle with a shrill rave lead being pitched up and down, playing things a bit more straightforward than the A but achieving the same amount of madness. The records coming out of the Hard Wax camp tend to be on the reserved side, but MMM have been making noisy techno/electro hybrids better than almost anyone else for over a decade. Nous Sommes MMM is another fine chapter in that story.