Monolake’s Interstate Gets Its First Ever Vinyl Pressing

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Music

Field Records continue their faithful documentation of Monolake’s early catalogue with the first-ever vinyl pressing of Interstate, the seminal 1999 album from Robert Henke and Gerhard Behles, remastered by Henke himself and due June 19th.

Interstate marked the final full collaboration between the two, and stands as one of electronic music’s genuine landmarks. Evolving from the dub techno of earlier releases, the record finds the duo pushing their exploration of Max/MSP into more complex territory, yielding eight distinct ecosystems of sound that thread elegant grooves through their foundations while achieving an organismic quality that continues to ripple through experimental electronic music today.

The album moves across a vivid range of textures and moods. There’s a house-like undulation to the low-end driving ‘Tangent-I’ and ‘Tangent-II’, layered with techno synth shimmers, trickling water and pin-prick percussion. ‘Ginza’ borrows the rhythmic thrust of drum and bass as an engine for designer percussion and dub-soaked synth detail. Throughout, Henke and Behles strike a balance that is both groovily instinctive and endlessly rewarding to pick apart.

<a href="https://roberthenke.bandcamp.com/album/interstate">Interstate by Monolake</a>

After Interstate, Behles departed to focus on the development of Ableton Live, and Henke steered Monolake in a leaner direction. The circumstances that produced this record could never be repeated. Capturing the leaps in digital music production being made at the turn of the millennium, it remains a wildly futuristic listen 27 years on.

Interstate is out June 19th on Field Records. Pre-order via Bandcamp now.