NARKOPOP
Ambient, Minimal Techno, Electronic.
Kompakt.
Listening Format: CD
Gas is the performing name of Wolfgang Voigt, producing his signature style of Ambient music. He is also the founder of Kompakt, one of the most well respected Electronic music labels and often considered a showcase of the "Berlin Minimal Techno" style. 'Narkopop' is the first release of brand new Gas studio material in 17 years now, and this comeback wasn't even really an anticipated thing, as it pretty much appeared relatively out of the blue earlier this year. The last Gas album 'Pop' came out in 2000 and the project went silent ever since. This isn't to say that Voigt himself has been silent, as he has continued to create music in different styles, including frequent releases under his own name and other pseudonyms. However Gas still remains his most popular and critically acclaimed body of work.
For those not familiar with Gas, his music very much takes many of the blueprints of Ambient music as pioneered by Brian Eno, but he puts his own signature spin on it. He often manipulates samples from orchestral works, particularly favouring dissonant and long drawn out chords, that he combines with synthesizers. The result is usually a slow moving, eerie and pulsating hum reminiscent of artists such as Angelo Badalamenti, the frequent David Lynch collaborator nicknamed the "master of the suspended chord". Gas often showcases a mixture of purely beatless Ambient washes, and tracks that feature a very minimal four-to-the-floor kickdrum often found in Minimal Techno. However this kickdrum is usually always drowned in reverb and pushed so far to the back of the mix that it sometimes passes through the awareness of the listener completely, like a ghost haunting the composition.
After 17 years away, Gas brings back those signatures in full force. The title 'Narkopop' suggests to me that this album has a direct connection to his previous album 'Pop'. Whilst 'Pop' could be considered a relatively sunnier and more uplifting album in the Gas discography, 'Narkopop' is very much the darker sister album. The album sleeves seem to correlate this, with 'Pop' having a bright, sunlit image of a tree branch, and 'Narkopop' in contrast looking like a walk through an eerie forest at night.
Essentially nothing has changed in Voigt's approach to making Gas music. We have another ten untitled pieces of music represented by numbers, using those trademark drawn out synths and sparse kickdrums. The pieces float between four and seventeen minutes, but the way they are sequenced makes it hard to pinpoint the exact moment where one track finishes and the next begins. It is very much an album experience that should be heard from start to finish. 'Narkopop' has a timeless feel to it because you can't really distinguish if this was recorded in 2017, 1997 or anywhere in between. This isn't to say that 'Narkopop' sounds exactly like his previous releases though, but it is very similar in concept, approach and performance.
What I love the most about 'Narkopop' is how genuinely dark, moody and melodramatic it sounds. The synths or samples are really dominant throughout this album. Whilst there are plenty of droning, drawn out sections that leave the listener feeling hypnotised, when the string and synth sounds do start to express themselves it sounds so doomy, almost angry even. Although Gas is German, I can't help but think of dark Scandinavian mystery dramas like The Killing, or perhaps the works of Lars Von Trier or Thomas Vinterberg when I hear this album. It has that stark, moonlit, winterry feel that I just adore. Everything sounds melancholic, isolated, and at times really chilling. Whilst it doesn't quite verge into Horror or Industrial territory, you could argue that this record verges on Dark Ambient at times. For an Ambient recording, I feel like 'Narkopop' expertly walks that difficult line where it keeps the details of composition and production relatively simple and sparse, yet manages to be completely enthralling and interesting the whole way through.
I feel like the only possible way a Gas fan could possibly be disappointed in this "comeback" record is in the fact that it doesn't do anything new. Even after 17 years, Gas sounds EXACTLY like Gas should. He hasn't changed his winning formula one bit. But that is a good thing too. Maybe fans would have still been disappointed had he gone out and changed things up too drastically. I think it is just a great treat for Gas fans to finally hear another record, that is really good and fits very comfortably among his already well established discography. In a time where Ambient music is still very much cutting edge, and where soundtracks new and old are being highly praised in the vinyl market, the return of Gas just feels very well fitting. 8/10.
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