Atom Heart, Vol. 2 - The Solicited Tracks (1996-2006)

Atom-ic Goodness - 110% Juicy, High Fat Muzikal Kontent

     

In certain eccentric circles, Atom Heart - man of a thousand stage names (Uwe Schmidt, Atom TM, Lassigue Bendthaus, Senor Coconut, etc.) - is recognized as an outright genius. Who else has managed to extract so much fascinating and such varied and smart, engaging music - much of it incredibly infectious and danceable, some of it simply gorgeous, some of it downright mysterious, all of it done with respect and serious humor - from a plain old unadulterated Macbook running Pro Tools - and in such a short period of time, no less?

This album provides a generous sampling of his work over the past decade or so - though leaving out, it should be noted, any of the music created under the Sr. Coconut moniker. The tunes here range from masterful surf-New Wave cartoon soundtrack (Musica Robita) to glitchy and atmospheric (Stage #4, Space is Sanity) to beat-laden funk (Overcome the Programming, Ma-Sik, 27th Autumn, Computermusik) and beyond.

Anyone familiar with Atom's turn-of-the-century work will dig this disk. Here is Atom at his best, playing with genres, twisting cliches, turning expectations upside down. Nobody in this crowd needs much more of a description to know what's in store for them. Their heads are probably bobbing just thinking about the percussive delights of a new Atom-ic disk. (And that's what this music is largely "about" - rhythms, mad rhythms - for Atom got his start as a drummer, with sticks in his hand and pedals under his feet.)

Those brand new to his music may find it (including this collection) somewhat mystifying at first, but depending on one's listening experience and bent, its beauty and art will, sooner or later, make itself known. This music - Atom's music in general and this disk specifically - can be deceptively simple, much of it striking newcomers as a staticky mess of possibly random sounds; give it a chance, though, and the bug is bound to bite. Uwe Schmidt is onto something quite profound, even if there's no ready label, yet, with which to categorize it.