Terence Fixmer - Electric city

Artist: Terence Fixmer

Title: Electric City

Label: Electric Deluxe

Catalog #: EDLX006

Release Date: January 2010

Rating: 6.5

Terence Fixmer makes techno informed by 80's industrial and EBM icons Nitzer Ebb, self-proclaimed purveyors of "international funk aggression". In "Electric City" Fixmer employs similar martial drum patterns but is distinctively stiffer.  

"Electric City" is built upon brutal drums and a sub-devouring 16th note bass sequence that hammers away endlessly. Noisy claps dissolve into distorted sine tones that ring like an alarm. With all the trappings of a pitch-black underground classic, it's a shame that it doesn't deliver. There's something amiss with the structure and phrasing of the track. It gives too much of itself away at the onset and the lack of variation makes for a frustrating, loopy ride. Fixmer does not share a knack for loop alchemy like peers Surgeon and Chris Liebing. While I can see the role that this track could play in a peak time techno set, it can get grating.

"Echoes" is riddled with clichés: a lurching bass, reverb drenched percussive hits and mildly unsettling glass scraping "sound design". Instead of dark and edgy, it comes off as a cartoonish, the end result lying somewhere in between Datapunk "elektro" and a mediocre Minus release.

New York underground legend Function takes "Electric City" outside its nightmarish snuff film set, transporting us to a moonlit swamp full of rhythmic crickets and gentle waves of filtered noise. Although the timbres are far from the factory, the groove is hard-edged. The hi-hats and percussive elements are flawlessly sequenced, while the dry toms at the end offer an opportunity to transition into housier territory.  

Speedy J always delivers. His subtle EQ tweaks and volume automation make the "Electric City" tool satisfyingly dynamic. He's a master at milking all of the exciting variations out of a loop and this tool sounds like it’s been run through his live rig. The beefed up kick stabilizes the foundation and makes for a more exciting track than the original.

Fixmer's tool removes the kick and focuses on the distorted high end. It's flattering to the track as the kick in the original mix has a disagreeable floppiness.

The Function remix and Speedy J tool make this record a worthwhile purchase despite the mediocre offering from Fixmer.

-Alex Talan

Tracks:

A1) Electric City

A2) Echoes

B1) Electric City (Function Mix)

4) Electric City (Speedy J Tool)

5) Electric City (Terence Fixmer Tool)