Frederik Schikowski, Einblick Ins Familienalbum (Irritant)

Posted January 5th, 2000 by admin

Frederik Schikowski
Einblick Ins Familienalbum
Irritant
By: Eric G.

Lo-fi electronic music seems like a contradiction in terms, but Frederik Schikowski has created an album’s worth of the catchiest and trashiest lo-fi electronic pop I’ve ever heard. The beats sputter, sounding primitive and deliberately overdriven, but I find myself bopping along. The tone is aggressive, bordering on obnoxious, but I can’t turn it off. At first I thought my speakers were blown, but then an absolutely pristine keyboard line surfaced, relieving some of the anxiety.

The music is frenetic but calculated. Schikowski frequently layers beats on top of one another to create, by song’s end, an almost unintelligible mass of distortion and fuzz. It’s overwhelming but somehow incredibly addictive. “Inspiral Beat Burger”, for example, pieces together TV static with an army marching beat, complete with troops whistling and a mock carnival keyboard melody. He then relents on tracks like “Nice Day, Mr. Braveheart” with peppy melodies and casio beats. Einblick Ins Familienalbum is completely insane electronic experimentalism but essential listening, nonetheless.

Frederik Schikowski also has an 8” record available with eight tracks on it. Limited copies come with a free cassette, an extra track, and a lollipop.

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