- The tagline for Super Flu's website tells us that they make "electronic grooves for music lovers only." Hardly anything could be more inclusive, of course. But once you put needle to plastic, you'll soon find that "electronic grooves for music lovers" means something along the lines of a jittery, less immediate Nathan Fake rip or something very, very similar to Herzblut label head Stephan Bodzin's myriad 12-inch releases. Fair enough.
It's frustrating, though, to think that there is a group of people who have seemingly grown up listening to James Holden and co. and slavishly devote themselves to crafting tracks that evoke the exact same vibe. Lack of creativity? Nah, I don’t think creating something new is the point here—Super Flu's skittering percussive elements and filtered melody sound like they were bought, rather than arrived at through experimentation. For the first 12-inch on Herzblut not to bear his name, Bodzin has chosen to release music that sounds like its motivating force was solely to imitate his own sound. That’s pretty hard to get your head around.
The opening page on Border Community's website tells us that they make "dance music that doesn't fit in a category." I have every belief that Holden (especially) believes this to be true, but the resultant Border/Traum/Herzblut nu-prog mini-genre is now a full-blown sound of its own, with its own visionaries, imitators, and hangers-on. It'll be interesting to see who comes out on the other end when listeners get tired of listening to endless variations on the same trick. If they haven't already.
TracklistA Brink
B Beetlewater