The attractive seascape print masks an unsuspectingly forceful EP, but the ships, representing the First Fleet viewed cautiously by the Indigenous Australians, indicate something grave. Mannheim Rocket hails from Sydney and his gravelly, political Techno is convincing, limber and approachable beneath the Berghain granite.
‘Invasion Day’ makes plain his theme, resonant chunks of wood clanking over cavernous bass whoomps and, eventually, a fashionably slow kick. ‘Sun Music’ aims for the feet, crude bongos, hiss and double time drums worthy of Sandwell District. The two part ‘Eora’ however is the centrepiece, introduced by portentous cello sweeps and scattered debris in ‘Part I’, solidifying into a form of Chilean minimal house in ‘II’, complete with flute solo. The bleak narration on Australia’s isolation here hits hard, not least because it’s so rare to hear an Australian accent within a Techno track, and sound so authoritative. It would be encouraging to have these words, and sounds, heard much further afield.
Joshua Meggitt
