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CD
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OSTGUT 042CD
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Answer Code Request returns with his sophomore album Gens on Ostgut Ton, entering darker but equally bass-heavy territory. Answer Code Request's 2014 debut Code (OSTGUT 031CD/017LP, 2014) was an exciting moment for electronic music in Berlin. As a hybrid gesture, the album's spirit recalled an especially fruitful era in the German capital from the mid-90s to early 2000s, when dub and pad-driven Detroit techno cross-pollinated with Berlin's industrial aesthetic to create one of the city's most exciting musical chapters. Today the musical vision offered by Berghain resident Answer Code Request, real name Patrick Gräser, has proved far-sighted. While at first glance electronic music in 2018 seems increasingly balkanized, borders between genres have once again become fuzzier. Now, on his follow up album Gens, Gräser looks beyond the bass euphoria of Code toward darker horizons and a desolate atmosphere befitting of current global circumstances. In a sense, Gens (Latin for "tribe" or "lineage") reverses the notion of the hardcore continuum as proposed by music journalist Simon Reynolds; embedded in a tradition of US and continental European techno, Gräser seeks its disruption through hardcore outgrowths, from ambient jungle to later variations of British bass music and IDM. On Gens, the unsettling atmosphere is established early on with the fading rave opener of the album's synonymous title track, and continues through the scrambled military communications and post dubstep rhythms of "Sphera". From there, sci-fi pads, heavy phasing, and alien syncopation lead explorative third track "Ab Intus" out into space. A glimmer of otherworldly positivity arrives with the warm, distorted breakbeats and interwoven synth melodies of album standout "knbn2", while Gräser melds jungle and techno, "Amen", and 4/4 kicks, on his most dancefloor-oriented "Cicadae". Beatless moments of ambient melancholy lay a foundation for the second half of album, where soon the faster, more hectic stereo delays, broken rhythms, and heavy bassweight of "Audax" and "Tu" shift the focus back and forth between double and half-time. The hyper-distorted bassline, synthesized ember crackling, and contemplative melody of heavy album closer "An Unattainable Distance" provides perhaps the most otherworldly moment on Gens. Here, Gräser's massive sound trudges away from the dancefloor with a slow, resounding kick drum, pounding off in the distance and into an electronic abyss. On Gens, Gräser continues to offer an alternative, bass-heavy, and groove-based path forward for techno -- one that both challenges listeners and leads them through a sonic narrative.
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2LP
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OSTGUT 028LP
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Double LP version. Answer Code Request returns with his sophomore album Gens on Ostgut Ton, entering darker but equally bass-heavy territory. Answer Code Request's 2014 debut Code (OSTGUT 031CD/017LP, 2014) was an exciting moment for electronic music in Berlin. As a hybrid gesture, the album's spirit recalled an especially fruitful era in the German capital from the mid-90s to early 2000s, when dub and pad-driven Detroit techno cross-pollinated with Berlin's industrial aesthetic to create one of the city's most exciting musical chapters. Today the musical vision offered by Berghain resident Answer Code Request, real name Patrick Gräser, has proved far-sighted. While at first glance electronic music in 2018 seems increasingly balkanized, borders between genres have once again become fuzzier. Now, on his follow up album Gens, Gräser looks beyond the bass euphoria of Code toward darker horizons and a desolate atmosphere befitting of current global circumstances. In a sense, Gens (Latin for "tribe" or "lineage") reverses the notion of the hardcore continuum as proposed by music journalist Simon Reynolds; embedded in a tradition of US and continental European techno, Gräser seeks its disruption through hardcore outgrowths, from ambient jungle to later variations of British bass music and IDM. On Gens, the unsettling atmosphere is established early on with the fading rave opener of the album's synonymous title track, and continues through the scrambled military communications and post dubstep rhythms of "Sphera". From there, sci-fi pads, heavy phasing, and alien syncopation lead explorative third track "Ab Intus" out into space. A glimmer of otherworldly positivity arrives with the warm, distorted breakbeats and interwoven synth melodies of album standout "knbn2", while Gräser melds jungle and techno, "Amen", and 4/4 kicks, on his most dancefloor-oriented "Cicadae". Beatless moments of ambient melancholy lay a foundation for the second half of album, where soon the faster, more hectic stereo delays, broken rhythms, and heavy bassweight of "Audax" and "Tu" shift the focus back and forth between double and half-time. The hyper-distorted bassline, synthesized ember crackling, and contemplative melody of heavy album closer "An Unattainable Distance" provides perhaps the most otherworldly moment on Gens. Here, Gräser's massive sound trudges away from the dancefloor with a slow, resounding kick drum, pounding off in the distance and into an electronic abyss. On Gens, Gräser continues to offer an alternative, bass-heavy, and groove-based path forward for techno -- one that both challenges listeners and leads them through a sonic narrative.
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12"
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OSTGUT 094EP
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Answer Code Request presents Neume EP. "Neume" starts with shuffling rhythms atop a heavy kick, soon caught up by first surging then predominant drone motifs, flashing bleeps and piercing strobe sounds. "Meta" clocks in instantly, it's rhythm section setting the tone with broken beats while Answer Code Request slowly carves out more musical detail and textures with subtle command vocals, swelling synth pads and other chilling, atmospheric means. "Vis" is the EP's most protruding track: classic UK Garage shuffle rhythms and "Amen" breaks are contrasted by a funky kick and dreamful pads, intertwined with additional sparse percussion.
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CD
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OSTGUT 031CD
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This is the debut LP from Berlin producer Answer Code Request on Ostgut Ton. Whether through his DJ sets, his increasing appearances as a live act, or with impressive releases on Marcel Dettmann Records and his own label ACR as an emergent Berghain resident, Patrick Gräser is one of the new exciting faces on the label. Code is a statement that coquettishly plays with the crucial question of electronic music -- which tasks and perspectives a techno album should demonstrate. All created during the last year, the 12 tracks introduce a genuine, reverent and adult sound concept which presents itself as a fog-shrouded journey through time -- combining Gräser's influences and history with several genres of dance music: from Detroit-inspired elegies over the UK sound with its breakbeats and IDM references, to the warm side of Berlin techno from the '90s. Despite the occasional nostalgic depth, Code is shrouded in a shadowy aura and a mystical mood that runs like a common thread through these tracks. Following on from the calm of the title-track, "Blue Russian" unveils Gräser's verve for detailed structure. His synthesis of swirling sci-fi sounds and stoic percussion develop a seething climax, which is constantly fed by his dramatic pads. "Field Depth," with its tandem of warm synths and the precise, powerful bass drum, clarifies that ACR's author-focused techno goes way beyond the composition of mere sketches. The UK-influenced design between warm and dark sounds evokes a mix of claustrophobia and restlessness while enchanting shades converse like they are hailing from a foreign galaxy. "Odyssey Sequence" sets foot on disturbing terrain where an ambient synth arrangement unfolds itself in the manner of a sound painting in atmospheric, gliding flight. "Zenith" emphasizes the drum-based focus of his compositions, while next to its rigidity, a melodic figure communicates in the background like sparkling moments of longing and hope. "Relay Access" continues this fragile magic in a downtempo-driven way where each beat, each soundscape and even the rudimentary, swirling spirals enjoy sufficient room to develop. On "Status" the floor is a fixpoint from where to carry out some grumbling bass modulations in unison with mechanical hi-hats and oracular soundscapes. Both the rattling breaks of "Haul" as well as the mantra-like prayer "Spin Off" embody a non-conformist ritual, before the British artist and singer Elizabeth Bernholz, known from her project Gazelle Twin, brings her impressive timbre between whispers and choral meditation into heavy pulsation backed by some heartthrob beats on "Axif." As the final sounds of the dreamy "Thermal Capacity" fade away, the moment has been reached where Code is halfway deciphered. Patrick Gräser's debut adds a pondering and sublime facet to the Ostgut Ton catalog, while also being emancipated from the dancefloor.
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LP
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OSTGUT 017LP
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12"
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OSTGUT 075EP
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This is the first Answer Code Request EP on Ostgut Ton. Patrick Gräser has already caused a great stir with his releases for MDR and his own eponymous ACR label. His debut 12" for Ostgut Ton begins with "The 4th Verdict" -- the hammering beats in saw-tooth shape oscillate the sound of the track perfectly. "Ghostes" continues the clear-cut course with unparalleled sound. The combination of drums and dreamy synths creates a mystic mood fitting the title of the track. "Breathe" ironically doesn't leave room for air. Instead, a mighty synth expanse winds itself relentlessly through the song.
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