Cervello Elettronico

“Electronic Brain” is the brainchild of Los Angeles based producer David Christian, who has made himself a name with numerous live shows in North America and Europe at important festivals like Maschinenfest, Schlagstrom (Berlin), Wave Gotik Treffen, Slimelight(UK), Planet Myer Day, and Storm Party(NL). The prolific musician has produced remixes for the likes of KMFDM, Leæther Strip, Wumpscut, and Terrorfakt on labels Industrial Strength, Metropolis, Dependent, and Alfa Matrix. There have also been well-received releases on HANDS Productions and Rustblade.

Cervello Elettronico puts out his second album for HANDS, and it is surely branded by fears – logical or not – pursuing a darker and more aggressive direction than ever before. What remains is the crisp production and remarkable variation in beats and sounds, and yet this appears direct and almost simple, dominated by a tidal wave of bass heavy industrial beats, coming on with the force of a freight train. The brain controls the motor function; the electronic brain dissects that anatomy of movement with “Logical Fears”. Whether for an underground techno or a rhythm-geared industrial set, Cervello Elettronico provides quite some tasty club food!


David Christian’s 2013 HANDS album “Anima Meccanica” went down well with its coherent take at various influences from rhythmic noise to dub techno and IDM and spawned not only the DJ-friendly remix EP for HANDS, but also remixes by and collaborations with the likes of Swayzak and Blush Response followed. It’s not a far route from there to a more physical sound, and here you go: Big midtempo beats on “Logical Fears” and “Tone Deaf”, dry and repetitive force on “Black Matter”, “Choose Right” and “Retracted Statements”, evil distortion on “Divider” and “Memory Loss”, a tribal polyrhythm on “Stand your Ground”. All the time, there are melodic undercurrents buried deep within the tracks, but it’s only in “Spacial Differences” that they’re allowed to blossom in full, making this the most distinctly techno track of the album.
Staying clear of the 50-minute mark, “Logical Fears” feels perfectly concise, focused on the essentials. Fears are elementary, and so is this album!