[Mikrodisko Recordings]

We all know what Kassem Mosse sounds like, but have you ever tried to explain to someone what Kassem Mosse sounds like? Sort of impossible, right? Unpeggable by tempo (there’s a good 25-bpm spread between the A and B sides of his seminal Nonplus Recordings release from last year) or by room size (where his backwards-playing FXHE release under real name Gunnar Wendel towers over his intimate Workshop releases) or by genre (his smash “Untitled” on Laid last year could be filed in pretty much any section of the record store), he’s a producer you really can’t say anything definitive about, except that you know KM when you hear him, and his sides are reliably essential. More than most producers we follow, Wendel’s sound is in the eye of the beholder. And if his latest solo outing, a 7″ called “Musical Generics” for his own Mikrodisko label, is any indication, our man wouldn’t want it any other way.

While one side of “Musical Generics” is slow and one side is fast, you could conceivably play either side at whichever speed suits you. (For the purposes of this review, though, I’ll talk about the tracks at the speeds they were probably produced at.) “7am,” skittering around at lightning speed like recently smashed-up subatomic particles, is bass music without bass, or techno without a steady thud impinging on its acceleration. “7pm,” already eying the bedroom even this early in the evening, slinks through your speakers like some kind of Dilla fever-dream. Across both sides, you know you’re listening to KM, but you’re admittedly not quite sure how you know that. To say these tracks are for DJs only is in no way a slight; rather, “Musical Generics” — as appropriate a title for this release as possible — feels like a collaborative project between consumer and producer, a set that’s not quite finished until a jock gets his fingerprints all over the vinyl. While Wendel’s remix work (to my ears, and to my slight disappointment) has started to sound like Kassem Mosse hunkering down into peggability, this solo outing reveals a producer still very much open to interpretation.

[Mikrodisko Recordings]

Since he began making music in 2003, Kassem Mosse has kept a pretty low profile. He has only a handful of releases, most of which were released on the tiny (but badass) label Mikrodisko Recordings. Nonetheless, he’s garnered some significant attention: the A-side from his Workshop release appeared on Ellen Allien’s Boogy Bytes Vol. 4, as well as Ryan Elliott’s blog hit “The R Factor.” On “Aqueous Haze (The World Dissappeared Into An),” his first release of 2008, Kassem Mosse wrings chilly emotion from analogue drum machines and synthesizers, just as he’s done in his productions and performances all along. His sound is vivid and unique, and it takes shape more splendidly on this release than ever before.

“No Peace/No Love/No Unity” has a bleak vibe fitting of its dour title. With its slow groove and soulless percussive sounds, it takes the listener on a night drive through a dilapidated urban landscape. As the track progresses, tortured half melodies drift into focus, eventually forming a deep, belching synth line that makes it all sound very Sähkö. “578″ is colored in the same gravelly hues, but is otherwise much more indulgent than the A-side. Its bass kicks fall with a dusty thud, complimenting mechanical buzzes and metallic scrapes to set the stage with industrial imagery right off the bat. The next five minutes are dominated by an evocative, foggy melody that makes this the choice track of the EP. Its sound offers something refreshingly out of place in today’s techno milieu, and would make for an exhilarating climax in a set of atonal Berghain bangers. Sadly enough, I’ve never been to a seedy warehouse party, but this is exactly the kind of music you would hear in one in my daydreams. “No Peace/No Love/No Unity” reflects more studio mastery, but the emotion of “578″ is impossible to deny. Kassem Mosse has been a well kept secret until now, but if other techno nerds feel the way I do, “Aqueous Haze” could earn him the widespread recognition he’s due.