Alternative Press (US)

– Distant radiating glitch nebulae –

Frank Bretschneider, who divides his time between making beep ‘n’ click minimal techno as Komet and operating his Raster-Noton label, has more in common with UK compatriots SND than with most of 12k’s artists. Like SND (who help out with some technical tweaks on Rausch), Bretschneider’s faded beats, bracing clicks, and vaportrail synth snatches are airy without being diffuse or empty, yet are strong enough to not be weighed down by the bleached-white polyrhythms Bretschneider uses to near-psychedelic effect. A Komet track never ends, it just sort of insinuates itself into the next, in the same way SND’s tracks unfold into each other.

Loosely translated as “white noise”, Komet’s latest album could be just that, in the form of a thousand transmissions filtered down to a base set of pulses and tones. Dub echoes left by Komet’s filtered beats are quickly extinguished by the deepspace vacuum lurking beneath, as on “Plus.” On “Band”, delay is used to create an unusual melodic accent out of a one-note tone, which eventually melts into the glassy chattering of “Sog.” If I may so bold as to say, Rausch is clearly one of the most spectacular albums of the year.