Schneider TM, Zoomer (Mute) 9+
In one of the more startling metamorphoses in recent memory, Dirk Dresselhaus's Schneider TM went from the vocal-less blip-pop pioneer on 1998's Moist to a post-electronica crooner hearthrob. The momentous event was on the 2000 Binokular EP, where he and collaborator Kpt.Michi.Gan boiled down The Smith's "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" to its glittering, twee, vocoderized essence as "The Light 3000." Glitchtronica finally found a heart. Five out of the eight songs on Zoomer feature well-written, heartfelt lyrics that outperform Beck's "Sea Change" for heart-wrenching effect. Particularly on "Abyss," on which Dresselhaus sings in a remarkably Beckian voice, "Better not discover/the secrets of your lover/the abyss of your lover." "Frogtoise" sounds like a combination of Beck and Sparklehorse, complete with graphic zoomorphic imagery ("I had a dream/I cut a frog in half/and a turtle too/…to plant the top/of the tortoise on/the poor frogs base"). "Reality Check" is the real stunner, packing as much emotional whallop as "The Light 3000," singing in a similar vocodor-treated voice over folky, treated guitars, "beware of the matrix/and keep a warm heart inside/don't jump off the train/there's still a long way to ride." The music remains electronic, done in the Schneider TM style that is just as glowingly, glisteningly elegant as Björk's Vespertine. "DJ Guy?" is an entrancing Kraftwerkian track that repeats one line over and over. "Turn On" is the biggest departure, featuring Kool Keith meets UK garage-style rapping by Max Turner. It sounds slightly out of place amidst the teutonic pop, but is quite good, suggesting that Dresselhaus could make some even more fascinating collaborations with, say, an R&B singer. "Hunger" and "999" are state-of-the-art blip pop, bristling and jolting, buzzing and scratching with microscopic details like electrified hairs on the back of your hand. Zoomer closes with its second best highlight, the lovely, mournful "Cuba TM." More substantial than Air, less experimental than Oval or Amon Tobin, Schneider TM is electronica's next worthy shining pop ambassador.
