There is electronic music and then there are HAUJOBB.
Although “The Machine in the Ghost” marks the impressive tenth studio album of the at the present Leipzig based duo it is again different from all its predecessors.
HAUJOBB plainly refuse to do the same thing twice. What sets “The Machine in the Ghost” apart is the prominent use of fieldwork recordings to create the sounds for this album.
In order to achieve the desired effects, HAUJOBB used a mix of software and hardware, in the shape of everyday items. This deliberate nod to a time with less software and more analogue shifting of the dials complements the theme of “The Machine in the Ghost” with a retro touch, yet without indulging in mere nostalgia for its own sake. The album revolves around the highly charged relationship between mind and matter, analogue and digital.
Even with their constant artistic evolution, there is a distinguishable musical handwriting present in all works of HAUJOBB that makes them unique. When the band was founded as a trio in the West German city of Bielefeld, they were still influenced by the Vancouver school of industrial and in particular SKINNY PUPPY and FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, which is quite audible on their early full-length “Homes & Gardens” (1993). Starting from this solid base, it did not take HAUJOBB long to become regarded as the figureheads of a modern electronic industrial sound. On their following albums, “Freeze Frame Reality” (1995) and “Solutions for a Small Planet” (1996), the Germans moved away from their Canadian roots and began to amalgamate IDM (intelligent dance music) with industrial and EBM. This catapulted the Germans onto the international scene and gained them cult status in the US.
After Björn Jünemann, one of the three founders, had left, the remaining original members Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic decided to continue as a duo. This did not mean a general change of course for HAUJOBB either. The duo continued to have a strong impact and in particular their 2011 self-released album “New World March” is widely regarded as another milestone.
With “The Machine in the Ghost”, HAUJOBB have created another exciting chapter in their remarkable career. At the very beginning of the next industrial and creative revolution ignited by the furious rise of artificial intelligence, HAUJOBB still have their metaphorical musical fingers right on the pulse of time.
Tracklist 1. Uncanny Valley 2. Uselessness 3. In the Headlights 4. Under the Gun 5. Tomorrow 6. The Internation 7. Opposition 8. Singularity 9. Mass Master 10. While It Rains
Line-up
Daniel Myer – vocals, programming
Dejan Samardzic – programming
Guest musicians
Emese Árvai-Illés (BLACK NAIL CABARET) – vocals
Hannes Rief (DIE SELEKTION) – trumpet
Aleta Welling – lyrics
Felix Gerlach – cello
Production by Daniel Myer & Dejan Samardzic
Mastering by Frank Marheinike at Analog Mastering Studio, Frankfurt (DE)
Artwork & Layout by Vlad McNeally
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