Anthony Rother

Taking time from his numerous other aliases and group projects, Anthony Rother releases his second album from his own Datapunk label. In typical electro style that expresses both immediacy in the production of the beats and authoritative distance in the lyrical component, Rother develops a theme of contrasts in SSM, whereby the end of the journey you’re left to believe that his sincerity lies in the act of highlighting these dualisms. He toys with the idea of the natural beauty of "nature” and the synthetic beauty of supermodels and in his German accent proclaims that "nature is the supermodel.” "Don’t Worry” suggests that Rother is the new Moby of the electro world. Just when you’re led to believe this is in fact Christian electro, particularly after the trance-y track called "God,” these pseudo-evangelical themes are tempered by his crackly voice atop curvy 303 squelches in "Lucifer,” sinisterly going on about souls and money. "Youth” begins with spacey phaser-like effects and commando-style electro drums, while the lyrical introduction summons some sort of collective realisation or action for something in his warnings that "we are the youth, we are the future.” "Space Rock” sounds like a club hit with its contrasting melodies of a thick and distorted bass line with an ethereal psychedelic synth. "Push to Talk,” also a club hit, displays Rother’s successful nomadic tendencies into the realm of pure techno, sounding like some of LFO’s early work done Hi-NRG style. Rother produces solid electro techno, yet what makes this project interesting is his commitment to developing variations on similar themes.