- When I spoke with Cristian Vogel in fall of 2014, just before Shitkatapult released Polyphonic Beings, The Assistenz was already being planned. Polyphonic Beings was the first club-friendly record in years from the former Tresor mainstay. Vogel was previously engaged in a "deep electronic listening experience" in Switzerland, working as a music director for choreographer Gilles Jobin. It was during that time spent in the theatre world that he learned about the "materiality of sounds," amongst other things, which has been central to his music ever since.
Vogel has a very particular, purist philosophy about sound. As a studio artist first and foremost, production quality is extremely important to him, and his last couple of records have been strictly conceptual. Take 2013's Eselsbrücke, which drew inspiration from theoretical composer Iannis Xenakis and was the product of a year's research. On The Assistenz, we're back in clubland—sort of. Even still, the album is another skillfully rendered and thoroughly considered Vogel sound world.
As Vogel's third record for Shitkatapult, The Assistenz shares a number of stylistic qualities with Polyphonic Beings: smokey dub techno, uncanny vocals, occasional curveballs. "Barefoot Agnete" could be a response to "Society Of Hands," the last track on Polyphonic Beings. Once again, voices are ambiguous and displaced, and both tracks allude to the body and invoke ritualistic music. Listening to "Barefoot Agnete" feels like encroaching on something sacred and otherworldly. This is followed by "Cubic Haze," an electro track with a strange spiritual presence, as if apparitions have been translated into something we can hear and dance to.
The Assistenz seems to function in a space beyond our reach. Vogel's album is something to be admired even without fully understanding it. With the exception of "Snowcrunch" or the ambient "Signal Symbol," most tracks are pretty tough. "The Merman's Dream" might be the most difficult to get through. It's a jarring end to an otherwise fluid album, which could very well be the angle here. If Polyphonic Beings was Vogel challenging himself, now it's our turn.
Tracklist01. Hold
02. Snowcrunch
03. Vessels
04. Telemorphosis
05. Barefoot Agnete
06. Cubic Haze
07. Signal Symbol
08. The Merman's Dream