Dictaphone

designed by oliver doerell and roger döring, dictaphone is the meeting of two minds who think jazz but practice electronica. having previously written theatre and film scores, doerell and doring here construct - as their label calls it - 'processed electronica slow-motion jazz'. the strangely titled 'm.=addiction' has a restless spirit; showcasing typically crisp cco production-line beats alongside a more adventurous avant-garde edge that is increasingly found on this imprint. hugely melancholic, this record features as much saxophone, clarinet and double-bass as bpm's, giving it that cinematic sound which certainly comes naturally to its creators. two tracks also break free from this misty stranglehold to venture into more familiar areas for electronica fans. 'tempelhof' is ace, where malka spigel intones abstract spoken-word gushes over softly cushioned rhythms while 'la piscine' heavily samples the sound of children playing, a move which would make boards of canada proud. three years in the making, 'm.=addiction' seemingly didn't come easy to doerell and doring. so effortlessly free and imaginative, this is one habit which just makes time slip away.