Barker & Baumecker
Transsektoral
Release Date: Sep 11, 2012
Genre(s): Electronic, Techno, Experimental Techno
Record label: Ostgut Ton
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Album Review: Transsektoral by Barker & Baumecker
Excellent, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 4.5/5
Challenging the negative connotations associated with the proverb about Jack and his many trades, Sam Barker and Andreas Baumecker's debut album is purposed to transcend the spectrum of electronic music. Both established figures within Berlin's techno fraternity, Barker is known for co-running the Leisure System nights and his razor-edged electronica as Voltek. Baumecker, meanwhile, produces under his own name and is more integral to behind-the-scenes operations at Berghain.Having previously collaborated on 2010's Candyflip, and then again for the equally noteworthy A Murder of Crows EP back in March, Transsektoral collates 11 new tracks from the pair's production mantle.
Based on rating 78%%
Barker & BaumeckerTranssektoral[Ostgut Ton; 2012]By Will Ryan; October 18, 2012Purchase at: Insound (Vinyl) | Amazon (MP3 & CD) | iTunes | MOGTweetBoth the names up there next to the two prowling, glassy-eyed wolves are longtime fixtures in Berlin techno's inner circle. It might be enough just to step behind the decks at Berghain to establish you have all the cred and connections one might ever need within the city's thriving dance community, but Sam Barker (aka Voltek) and Andreas Baumecker are just as active behind the scene--co-opting club events and running record labels--as they are in it. The two exude a passionate and tireless work ethic that translates to their first full-length together as Barker & Baumecker, Transsektoral, after a pair of releases on the Berghain-affiliated Ostgut Ton.
Based on rating 7/10
Barker & Baumecker's Transsektoral is a slightly strange effort in ways. On the one hand it's a perfectly accomplished 21st century techno collection that nods toward a now decades-long history with aplomb, but on the other hand it's so well polished and put together it's almost hard to appreciate as anything other than what you might expect sonically from such a description. Nothing on the album truly startles or surprises, its sources are clear, and its impact song for song is the kind of satisfying fix one might expect from labels like m_nus and Kompakt as much as Ostgut Ton itself.
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