- Max Kobosil is a promising new name in techno. In the past two years, he's put out sleek, Mills-ian cuts on Unterton (Ostgut Ton's sub-label), Marcel Dettmann Records and his own boutique imprint, RK (not to mention a badass Smoke Machine Podcast). On all of these releases, he complemented his linear grooves with Sähkö-esque sound design—an impulse he indulges more fully on RK1.
The A-side is completely avant-garde. On "Head," rolling drones gradually increase in pressure and then taper off. "Untitled" is a sketch centered on a bit of post-punky poetry ("we thought that the truth and that which is true were the same thing…") that ends after less than 30 seconds. "1018818" begins with cluster of ghostly loops—impressively vivid clicks, rattles and so on—then veers into an abyss of sub-heavy ambience before circling back to its opening arrangement.
The beat-driven tracks make up the B-side. "A15" is a lean strip of techno that, like Kobosil's past highlights, is as spacey as it is sinister. "Polyheme," at just 115 BPM, is more left-field, with a gloomy choir and the occasional peal of feedback. Then, for some reason, we get a reprise of the "Untitled" poem. It's admirably adventurous, but also a bit bland. Kobosil has clearly got something special, but here he could use some more flair.
TracklistA1 Head
A2 1018818
B1 A15
B2 Polyheme