Gesaffelstein: Aleph

By gigabit • 06 Feb 2014 in Review

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Text Christopher Ujine Ong

THE ANTI-NU DISCO
Aleph: first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which corresponds with the Greek word ‘Alpha’ and Arabic word ‘Alif’, and derived from the Semitic root form of ‘ox’. Gesaffelstein: a portmanteau of the famous physicist, Albert Einstein, and the German word ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, meaning a universal synthesis, an ideal work of art which combines many art forms. That French producer Mike Levy (who’s quite the looker) took on such pretentious names is him showing ambition.

Yes, he may have produced Kanye West’s ‘Black Skinhead’ and ‘Send It Up’, but on his own – as the purported dark prince of techno – his debut is an intense introduction to his own take on varied genres of electronic music. ‘Hellifornia’ is gothic hip hop served up as a wobbling plate of dubstep; ‘Pursuit’ is what Daft Punk would have delivered on the Tron: Legacy soundtrack if they were working on a nastier plane; the title track, by comparison, throws some light into the unrelenting darkness, even if it does sound like a sinister Italo-synth track.

LISTEN TO: ‘Aleph’
IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU’LL DIG: Not the disco renaissance by his peers
RATING: 4