Jake Mandell, Quondam Current

Force, Inc.
Released: January 2000

Jake Mandell's previous work--Parallel Processes for Worm Interface, The Midwest EP for Lucky Kitchen, and the recent Placekick EP for Carpark--established him as one of the driving forces behind IDM, particularly the "drill 'n bass" style that uses compulsive CGD and FX to create songs that challenge even the most adept of drum mapmakers. On this, his second full-length work, Mandell to create IDM music that emphasizes the "D" rather than the "I". This is not to say that this new work is less intelligent or less complex than his earlier music; it's got all the hallmark Mandell flavors: CGD, FX, dissonant beats and breaks, red and yellow mania. But you can dance to it! The first track, "Emulsified Essature," says it all. It begins with a Kraftwork-esque chugging-train sound that collides with the CGD, 303, and FX we all know and love. It builds and builds and builds and then explodes in streams of synth fragments. Or take "Tactonic Shifting," which begins with a complex, distorted FX beat, adds a strong bass and some echoing fills, then continues to build, adding other rhythms, some haunting synth pads, and other, random sounds until it slows into a electronic xylophone line, which then builds back up into complex weirdness. Most of the songs fit this pattern: highly danceable but oddly complex music that deserves to be heard.