Absolutely revelatory uncovering of Düsseldorf duo Mentocome's one and only record from 1992, tracing a line between post-industrial ethno-murk, abstract sound design and the very German tradition of artfully minimalist electronics. Comprised of Rainer Rabowski and Axel Grübe, a pair of producers with a long running association with the German underground via their previous band Roter Stern Belgrad and the early 80s cassette imprint Klar!80, their uniting as Mentocome coincided with that of the country as a whole and the very noticeably left turn into experimental sound design that was guiding electronic music at the time. Whether they were directly connected or not, Mentocome accords very well with the concomitant work of Werkbund, PFN, C-Schulz and Frank Dommert (particularly the latter two's Kontakta collaboration), presenting a deconstructed buzz of fractured electronics that expresses an as much of an affinity with avant garde composition (Stockhausen, Cage et al) as it does the more prickly approaches of Coil and Vanity Records. What's most remarkable is how fresh it sounds now, which is perhaps a product of the mindset of its creators Rabowski and Grübe - there seems to be little implied audience in the free-wheeling, wide-focus quality to their approach, less concern still for conventional form. Art for art's sake, with the bar set high, and a surrounding cultural mindset, whether conscious or remote, pushing it onwards and outwards. In hindsight, quite the time to be alive. Respect to Amok Age for helping to reanimate the feeling.
FFO: Werkbund, Kontakta, Vanity Records, PFN, Blockwart, O Yuki Conjugate
