- Released on Neurhythmics, the label run by London-based German DJ Juergen Junker, Four Hallucinating House Figures feels like a labour of love. Across four tracks its creator, Saarbrücken producer Roger Reuter, AKA Roger 23, celebrates his affection for '80s synth music, techno and acid. "Optical Treck" spins around a squelchy, jacking Chicago groove, joined by a jagged, clanging bassline. In contrast, "Capital Theme" is a more doleful, stripped back affair. Part ZX Spectrum game, part Oxygene-era Jean-Michel Jarre, it sounds like it was recorded on one of those early monophonic handheld Casio keyboards.
The most overtly clubby of the quartet, "L.A.D." is shot through with acid squiggles, snaking synth swells and a portentous, fucked-up baritone vocal. It finally wooshes off into the sky leaving a trail of disco-ish vapours and Phuture-flavoured drum patterns. "Transcendental State" gets busy with the reverb, spattering synth decaying into nothing, 808s nipping at its heels. That such worshipping of the past manages to avoid sounding anachronistic is down to Roger 23's contemporary approach.
TracklistA1 Optical Tjeck
A2 Capital Theme
B1 L.A.D.
B2 Transcendental State