Mapstation My Frequencies When We

The title stumbles along, much like the rhythms gathered here. "My Frequencies, When We" is the eighth Mapstation album Stefan Schneider has released since 2000. Hailing from Dsseldorf, the electronic music artist and producer finds inspiration in African and South American folklore, dub and, naturally, Krautrock, taking his time to process his responses in a consistently thoughtful manner, never resorting to clich. He has also found time to pursue other projects in recent years, one with Electronic Music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius for example (2011), another with visual artist Katharina Grosse (2017), whilst continuing to release interesting music from a variety of musical spheres on his own Tal label. Recorded between March and August of 2020 in Corona-induced isolation, there is a sonic homogeneity to "My Frequencies, When We". For the first time in years, guest musicians are conspicuous by their absence. Schneider himself assumes vocal duties on The City In. He has also pared down his equipment list: an analog tape loop device, Roland 808 drum machine, Novation Peak synthesizer, a guitar. Schneider thus sticks to the philosophy he revealed to an interviewer this summer: "Simplification of the means is something I strive for. I have come to realise that my music loses intensity when I add in too many elements. Stripping down the pieces in play always increases the impact and I have to keep this in mind whenever I'm working." "Intensity" does not necessarily translate into "danceability". Yes, there are hypnotic African grooves on Flute Channels and the ingeniously rhythmic, imaginary world music of Taro Zing Ta has much in common with Jon Hassell, Marja Ahti or DJ Residue, but these do not reflect the full spectrum. For the most part, the rhythms are as rudimentary as those found in folklore, tottering and stumbling along