Necmi Sensomotorik Mental-Arts (Germany)

Necmi’s made a name from his live sets around Germany, and after appearing here and there he seems to have hit with a bang on Mental Arts. Necmi’s style is progressive with some evident classical techno roots, though lysergic junkies should be warned not to expect full twist psychedelia here. Take Me Away is pleasant enough, there’s twist and the groove is hypnotic even though some of the samples are a little awkward. Short Bass is busy with a tight Germanic groove, managing to keep a deliciously organic vibe and some imaginative twists. Kontra is a more linear groove, with a sort of sonic-future-disco thing going on, while Follow The Sun has a sort of epic movie vibe, with deep-set rhythm section and sparse percussion with a soaring guitar-like synth over the top. Flowmania has some frankly terrible faux-Chinese synthsounds opening up over an undiscernable low end, and the groove which again is this future-disco thing, is marred by daft sounds and despite some nice twists there’s little direction here, and at over ten minutes it takes excessively long to get nowhere. Flangers in The Knight has an eerie vibe, with neatly offset sounds sort of unfolding as the tune goes on, which all works nicely and there’s even a bit of melody in here as well, with an ending run that’s borderline genius. Bassrevolution has a particularly hefty bassline, some Detroit stabs here and there, and percussion that’s swift and effective… as such it’s probably the most immediate tune of the lot here. Tingleing sensation has a competent groove let down by daft samples including daft house diva bits, and finally Dubsphere is a goldfish-bowl of circular sounds, some evidence that Necmi perhaps doesn’t take all this as seriously as it first appears. All in all there are good ideas here, and about half of them are executed well. This is good stuff in its own right, but for heaven’s sake listen before you buy.