Chlär and Alarico team up again under the Funk Assault moniker on their home label, Primal Instinct, continuing to warp minds with syncopation and timing that borders on genius and experimental with their latest release, the “Soft Power’ EP.
If you’ve been following the rise of Primal Instinct as a label over the past 2 years, then you’ve seen it rise in favor with the techno heads towards a now cult-like status; that’s not by accident either. If you have the intention to try to create a unique voice in the techno community, you will surely come out ahead. Certainly, it doesn’t hurt either that the label heads Chlär and Alarico have the production chops and ear for curation to pull it off.
The Funk Assault name is also a unique idea to both of them, where it’s a conceptual approach to rhythm and timing as well as (if we’re bold enough to say without seeming superficial) negative space. Aside from a conceptual approach, the project does seem to be a real answer to an electronic music community that is looking for something to grab ahold of and champion that is creative, fun to dance to, and wholly new based on the evolution of the purest aspects of the techno genre. Sure, you could say it’s a cross-section of Chicago Jackin’ house vibes mixed with 00’s minimal techno aesthetics, and attempting to dismiss it in that way, but this time it’s really about an acknowledgement of applying groove theory into new and interesting applications.
One great example of this is the track “Like Me, Watch Me,” where there are great aspects of call-response patterns, pitched to uneasy dissonant tones, creating a tension all of their own, but the timing of the notes is always holding a bit more than one would expect. To move your body to this, it provides a movement that’s playful and teases your expectations. Once you get the groove and are dipping your shoulders in time, the movement itself is an expression of a very ill flow that’s very satisfying to keep time to. The little timing fills are also a great way to switch things up and definitely bring a smile to your face.
The other track that tacks onto this idea is “Normal is a Weapon.” The significant difference here is the eerie atmosphere and the timing of the elements that flow in and out. If you want to define “the funk” as being elastic, Funk Assault is certainly stretching that groove. Some speculation on how that’s achieved could be the use of time stretching techniques to get interesting off-grid syncopation, wild swing percentages, either static or automated, or the deliberate use of tuplet grids to a scientific degree that are at play here, but only Funk Assault knows for sure.
“Obedience Spa” still carries the discomforting call and response, and the ghostlike vocals match the eerie suspended pads at the back while oddly timed percussion pulls at the composition in strange ways. The claps in this track are easily blended into the background since they are very dry, save for a bit of reverb. But in many ways, their syncopation makes the track. In most cases, off-beats should be below the main program, but the claps are hiding in plain sight due to the brain shutting them out in response to repetition and being distracted by the vocal.
“Aesthetics of Desire” is also a bit of middle ground between “Like me..” and Obedience…” but if you would like to point your ear towards the outline of the shapes of the elements in your mind’s eye, the frame the emptiness in between the notes, this space keeps modulating in a very interesting stereo image that’s fascinating. If there’s one thing to be said about rhythm, it’s that the silence around the drum hits that also matters just as much as the drum hits themselves. Suppose Funk Assault is playing at this space, whether intentionally or as a byproduct of their imagination. In that case, it comes across as a sophisticated effort to balance the program material with the atmosphere of the track, which is, in itself, implied by the very minimalist dry reverb that remains as an intense underpinning throughout the track.
“Terms and Conditions” lets you off the hook with the odd timing experiments, but doesn’t relent with messing with expectations. The primary beat of the track rests in a solid tech house beat to make you think that we’re listening to a Terry Francis set from back in the day, but once the layered claps and rides come in, we’re graced by some crunchy, dark, and soul-driven techno. Is tech house so bad? Some would say yes, but only since it came through the scene and had the creative strength of a watered-down cocktail. But this track only comes to prove that proper techno is a balance of conceptual ideas and the knowledge of how to use them effectively and with creative intent. Techno, being a sister of house music, there needs only to be a few defining ideas to tip the scale into its own identity.
With this music, it’s impossible not to like it because it shows a good amount of detail into things that other people would quickly gloss over. You would be surprised how many newbie techno producers are out there that have zero concept of swing or don’t even have an ounce of soul in their bodies. Funk Assault isn’t only about adding a little bit of swing to keep their drum patterns from being as stale as a hard-tack biscuit; they have chosen this as a place to plant their flag. To break new ground. With DAWs being capable of placing everything either super quantized and on a grid, or not at all, it only takes a bit of specialized knowledge to take things to a new place in what techno feels like, and this is especially so when you are a dancer moving on the dance floor.
Really, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Techno is forward-thinking sonically, but there’s not been so much progress on expanding how a dancer can be influenced to move in new and unexplored ways. Which is groundbreaking, to say the least.
-Sean Ocean
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