This is Carsten Nicolai’s first album proper for some time, and it has been more than worth the wait.  I bought this concurrently with the new Machinefabriek, and while both are superficially similar, this one scores higher for its cohesiveness and emotional resonance.    And for the packaging; while both come esconced in minimalist white cardboard foldout contraptions, the Raster-Noton release is most aesthetically pleasing, and as Colin discusses, the correlation between the label, the music and the object is thoughtful.

With Xerrox, Nicolai is embarking on yet another thematic series of releases - after the Transall EPs and the Sakamoto collaborations, this is reputedly the first of five.  Everyday samples (telephone hold music, jingles, light entertainment) are copied and processed, altered and distorted to the point where they are thoroughly disenfranchised from their source.  The process manifests itself in the perception of layering, tracks building as if transparencies with one word apiece are laid onto an OHP until whole sentences are formed.  As the traces of melody re-constitute from amidst static hiss, the longer pieces wander into territory which (pre-Insen) could once have been considered thoroughly alien to Nicolai – swelling, lush, affecting and very cinematic.  If they were to remake Taxi Driver (which they shouldn’t, obviously), and were to replace the Bernard Herrmann score (again, a ridiculous idea), they could do worse than having “Copy 3 (Paris)” accompanying the drive through the dark street with the rain beating against the windscreen/soul.

Listen to snatches of Xerroxes 3, 1 and 111 courtesy of Raster-Noton.  Visit them to hear more and to purchase.