XLR8R (US)

That Rausch translates as “intoxication” is not surprising, given the engrossing, disorienting qualities of this album from Frank Bretschneider, one of the Raster-Noton’s minimalist founders. But it also can bean “blush” – a meaning lending additional color to this reductionist masterpiece. Despite microsound’s frequent characterization as cold and wan, Rausch pulses with unusual vitality, partly due to the merging of all 11 tracks into a single, arcing form. This rich-hued glow also derives from Komet’s skill at pairing shudderingly deep bass tones with the most exquisite of crystalline pops and ticks. Rausch wends its way through imagined spaces to the sound of feet on wet pavement and the hiss of failing streelights. In conjuring otherworldy atmospheres from the merest hint of line and motion, it’s an album italo calvino – maestro of gesture and tangent – would have admired immensely. – philip sherburne