Album Review: mst - Acid Pauli

In some ways a sufficient review of Acid Pauli's new album would simply read: "Pauli is friends with Nicolas Jaar and hangs about in Germany"

But whilst that does a pretty good job of describing what mst sounds like it doesn't really do Pauli's efforts any justice. This is undoubtedly electronic music cut from the same cloth as Jaar's - throbbing electronic IDM that can't bear to be contained by the confines of the dance floor. The German influence is also felt in the clean lines and focus of mst.

But this is Pauli's own album. For one he resists the urge to vocalise his thoughts. The echoey atmospherics of his work with alternative rock band the Notwist also rear their head. Whilst elements of this record feel like German techno it is simultaneously a messy tangle of clicks and crackles and clattering noise. So it is business on the sides but messy on top.

Much like Jaar's work Pauli's music suggests he is a better listen when playing his own music for himself than when constrained to the requirements of a crowd and a dance floor. And that makes perfect sense when you consider that Pauli's claimed ambition for this album was to create a dance record that reflected the the experience back into everyday life.

These pieces conjure a thrilling listen that act as a canvas for your own emotions, an atmospheric medium. The guttural samba of 'A Clone Is Not A Clone' gently moves through urban hustle and bustle with a gentle seeping paranoia that you'll miss if you aren't looking for it and 'Equation of Time' is could be the internal soundtrack for waiting for the bus or blowing bubbles in the bath. 'Eulogy for Eunice' peels out of the dark corner of the room like the first spit-spots of a rain storm that builds to a thunderstorm and innevitable torrential downpour. It is nine of the most atmospheric minutes ever pressed to record.

mst should put Pauli on the map but it also proves Clown & Sunset and Jaar still have much to offer.

mst is released on Clown & Sunset on 18 June.