Benedikt Frey - Fastlane (ESP Institute)

 

Title: Fast Lane

Artist: Benedikt Frey

Label: ESP Institute

Cat Number: ESP103

Genre: Techno

1: Habits

2: Fast Lane

3: Crank

4: Move Me ft. Nadia d’Alo

5: Solver

6: Element

7: Gasoline

8: Industry

9: Trick Shot

10: Silverblade ft. O-Wells

11: Lost (Again)

12: 1337

‘Fastlane’ is a conceptual union of man and machine, that’s one way of interpreting the press release at least. Taking it for what it actually is, a techno album, it’s not too shabby. There is a contrast between more groove-orientated tracks ‘Fast Lane’, ‘Crank’, Industry’: break beats: ‘Habits’, ‘Move Me’, ‘Solver’, ‘Element’, ‘Gasoline’, ‘1337’ ‘Trick Shot’ and ‘Lost (Again)’ (the last couple tipping into electro territory), and ‘Silverblade ft. O-Wells’ which feels like stripped down hardcore. Anyway, it’s an interesting journey, and one which homogenously embraces its shifts in sound design. There is a feeling of travelling without moving throughout, which I imagine was one of the aims of the album,  and the use of the vocoder in ‘Solver’, spoken word in ‘Trick Shot’, vocals in both ‘Move Me ft. Nadia d’Alo’ and ‘1337’ is versatile and varied. Listening to this collection from start to finish is anything but predictable, and the surprises it reveals along its route are ample enough to give the listener food for thought and continually engages.