Bumped up from City Slang to Mute after the sparkling debut
Moist,
Dirk Dresselhaus set his sights on a purer vision of pop music for his second record,
Zoomer. The glitchy programming and intensive production subtleties are intact from his debut, but
Dresselhaus added a few more vocal tracks (four out of eight), with inspiration garnered from
the Beach Boys,
Beck,
New Order, plus the late-'60s/early-'70s advent of electronic pop. "Reality Check" begins as a gentle acoustic number with robotic vocals, later segueing into an imaginative blend of rubbery basslines and breakbeat techno, while still remaining a brilliant pop song. "Abyss" has the masterful production and electronic eccentricities of a
Beck track, but also an endearing optimism that makes for an easier listen. And "Frogtoise" makes explicit the connections between
Mouse on Mars' programming squelch and
Brian Wilson's optimist harmonies. The instrumentals are gorgeous as well, marking
Schneider TM as one of the best young producers going in electronic music. ~ John Bush