First Broadcast - Franz Kirmann (Bytes)

Title: First Broadcast

Artist: Franz Kirmann

Label: Bytes

Cat Number: BYTES08

Genre: Percussive Jungle Ambient Chug

1: Mangrove (Evening)

2: Datura Noir

3: Future Primitif

4: Mannequin

5: Expo

6: Masques

7: Dancer

8: Mangrove (Morning)

9: Masques (Edit)

10: Mannequin (Edit)

‘First Broadcast’ is the follow-up to ‘Madrapour’ and is, conceptually at least, also a possible sequel to the French novel on which ‘Madrapour’ is based. If this already sounds like so much flotsam, fear not, because it was “Recorded in a week from the confines of Kirmann’s Battersea studio during the Coronavirus lockdown.” Obviously a man with a plan, Kirmann has managed to come up with an album full of atmos and kinesis while keeping things devilishly simple. The album is bookended by the ambient either end of the day ‘Mangrove’ tracks, and within there is a variety of percussive jams that work within a carefully prescribed range of frequency. What ‘First Broadcast’ does very well is reduce a tribal sound to its essence, resulting in an intense, claustrophobic chug underneath the tree canopy. I’d like to hear some other producers remix these tracks with the dance floor in mind. There’s a lot of potential.