BEN KLOCK - ONE (OSTGUT TON)

Alongside Marcel Dettman, Klock is one of the pin-up boys of the increasingly vaunted “Berghain” stable of DJs. A sound that has taken its name from the choice of records played at the infamous club, namely a mix of Relief and other Chicago staples mixed in with more Basic Channel-esque elements. If there’s one criticism aimed at this particular scene, it’s that none of them have really managed to produce a great record between them as of yet, and for scenes to crystallise and mature, it’s necessary for the music to soundtrack it, especially when the backbone of their musical aesthetic is now 15 years old or so.

“One” doesn’t begin to approach the canon of great techno records, but there are plenty of signs that Ben Klock’s sound has taken a great leap forwards from the middling tracks that marked his earlier release history on labels such as Bpitch Control, and it’s probably the best from this lot yet, following the much hyped but disappointing Shed LP. The album kicks off in sinisiter style with “Coney Island”, mutating from a uncertain start into a full blown 5am thumper that has some cracking Gemini-esque elements to it, but also incorporating the sinewy grace of Dial’s Peter Kersten. Vocalist Elif Bicer, who has worked with Prosumer, adds her ghostly refrains to two tracks on the album, most notably on the spectral “Goodly Sin”, which weaves in and out of a oddly spastic beat. The album never lets up, with virtually all of the tracks being suitable for the floor, and there’s an appreciative shift in mood with the atmospheric subtlety of “Underneath” and murky frission of “Gloaming”.

What’s most striking about this album is its pacing and ultimately the strong sense of narrative. I saw Klock DJ for 6 hours at Berghain last year for the first time, and was surprised by the amount of texture and musicality in his selections, and this has transferred with great effect to the album. There’s kinetic energy in the suspensful “Cargo”, although Bicer’s efforts on the following track “OK” sets things back a little. The osmostic influence of dubstep comes to bear in “Gold Rush”, but it’s slightly disappointing to hear things taken down a level as the album closes with the downbeat “Thirteen Rounds”. Klock avoids producing a throbbing Berghain anthem on “One” which to my mind may have made this a great album, but there’s enough texture, emotion and ideas here to suggest that Klock may have jumped to the head of the queue at Berghain.

Toby Frith