Totakeke: eLekatota - The Other Side of the Tracks
Reviews -
Frank Mokros is perhaps better known in Rhythmic Noise and
Industrial music circles for his releases as Synth-Etik. Perhaps less-known is
his Totakeke persona, under whose name an EP and a full-length were released
years ago on the now seemingly defunct Frozen Empire Media record label, both of
which received rather positive critical attention.
"eLekatota" is an excellent and very interesting show of talent and accomplished
musicianship, expertly incorporating elements from a wide spectrum of electronic
music genres from rather obvious IDM up to more dance-oriented music. Upon
listening to it, one is certainly bound to appreciate the seamless aural journey
that Frank Mokros constructed, a journey full of rich detail and subtle nuances
which reveal themselves progressively with each listening session. Despite an
intentional chaotic beginning with the first couple of tracks, "eLekatota"
quickly progresses to more accessible and pleasant soundscapes where complex
rhythms, melodic arrangements and minute sampling are skilfully layered coalesce
into a string of constantly evolving cinematic compositions. There is a sense
that nothing here was left to chance and that despite the electronic nature of
the music, cold and seemingly chaotic at times - as befits what is frequently
referred as Intelligent Dance Music - Totakeke's compositions feel rather human
and have a definite warmth to them, a warmth and constancy that is in stark
contrast with the seeming random rhythmic patterns of some compositions. While
individual tracks are memorable on their own - some standing out depending on
the listener's inclinations - this album is best appreciated as a whole entity,
with uninterrupted attention from beginning to end. Interestingly, "eLekatota"
also appears to come full circle on itself.
Extremely cinematic, "eLekatota" is one of those albums that demands (and
deserves) the listener's undivided time and attention to be fully appreciated.
It is certainly an excellent listening choice for those occasions in which one
finds time to not do anything else but sit down, relax, appreciate a very good
record (and perhaps a good wine too) and forget about life's worries. -- Miguel
de Sousa [8.5/10]
The 2nd album of Frank Mokros (Synth-Etik) under the Totakeke-moniker is an absolute, fabulous production! This artist here realizes a real masterpiece in progressive industrial music. Totakeke goes much further than simply industrial music, but assembled a multitude of ideas resulting in a fascinating and brilliant entity. “Elekatota” sounds very electronic minded, but with a wide spectrum of electronic input. There’s a sort of symbiosis between dark ambient electro constructions, industrial atmospheres, a few trance vibes and minimal techno elements. On top you’ll find some cool spoken samplings. The sound and arrangements are quite complex, but remains compact. It all sounds like F. Mokros didn’t spare any effort in the sound research while he also took care for an impressive final production in sound. “Elekatota” features 13 tracks, but it will take me too long to mention all the attention grabbers. The entire album is a class act. I’ll just mention a few ones starting with “Pull The Plug”, which is a pure sensation in electronic sound sculptures and samplings. A next great piece is the more minimal-techno-ish “Millenia”. It’s a complex song with some techno arrangements on top, but built on a solid basis of dark atmospheres, decomposed sounds and cool samplings. On “Strangle” the composer shows ones more his genius in elaborated industrial music with attitude and an amazing production! A last cut I want to mention is “Elekatota Two” for its great sequences reminding to a kind of mix between Clock DVA and The Klinik. I personally prefer the sound of this project more than Synth-Etik and I’m convinced that this album has a real strong potential to become a reference in the current industrial scene! An impressive album!
Elekatota is the sophomore album from Frank Mokros who is also known as the New York based producer who has made several releases on the highly regarded German industrial noise label Hands Productions under the name Synth-etik. As Totakeke however, Mokros takes his music in a different direction, merging a range of different electronic music genres to create a hybrid that still hints at his noisier industrial roots with Synth-etik. Elekatota is an interesting concept with conflicting personalities; on one hand it is smooth, warm and fluid yet on the other it is dark, brooding and probably a little disturbed. It is almost as though Mokros has decided to break away from the Synth-etik mindset but his industrial sensibilities don’t want to let him go that easily. It is like a battle between light and dark; as rich rhythms shuffle, pound and energetically jump around, lurking in the background are darker intentions in the form of crackling distortion, creepy samples and hard industrial rhythms. However, what could quite easily end up as a disjointed collision of mismatched styles actually results in something quite original; Makros has drawn from genres such as techno, industrial, noise and dark ambient to create a fairly well-balanced hybrid that, although it often falls more on the harder rhythmic side of things, actually takes in all the genres at different points throughout the album. “Millenia” for example is a driving industrial monster loaded with bassy beats that is followed by the steady rounded rhythms and dark disturbing ambience of “Gift of Nervous Methods” that in turn morphs into huge stabbing beats. “Strangle”, despite its title, lightens the mood somewhat with euphoric technoid rhythms that lead into the crazy experimental abstraction of “Fragile Thoughts”. In the space of just four tracks, Mokros has covered industrial, techno, dark ambient and experimental electronic genres, sometimes within the scope of a single track. Surprisingly though, the transitions appear quite natural, producing a widely varied and every changing sonic soundscape of moods, textures, rhythms and atmospheres. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the range of Elekatota is to compare two stylistically diverse tracks; “Carrier Signal” is a fairly subdued yet fidgety ambient techno track with underlying industrial themes and a hint of glitchy experimentation while “Show Me the Faith” is loaded with massive bassy breaks, deranged melodies and hi-tech bloops with a hint of distortion. Mokros produces an interesting album that takes in a diverse selection of genres and styles, often within short spaces of time. The constant switches in tempo, style and mood may be distracting to some but the concept and execution and still pretty well conceived. Tympanik Audio again produces an interesting album; after appearing apparently out of the blue this Chicago-based label is already gaining the attention of the media as their busy release schedule rolls on.
Re:Gen Magazine -
Continuing down the path set by his first album, Totakeke's Frank Mokros yet
again intrigues with a complex array of intricate beats and synthesized
ambience.
While it has been some time since Totakeke's last album, the complex arrangement
of intricate beat structures and ambient industrial atmospheres presented on
eLekatota: The Other Side of the Tracks proves that Frank Mokros hasn't fallen
into the trap of stagnation. Granted, there's not much deviation from what
Mokros had achieved on his debut, At the Train Station on a Saturday Evening,
but his formula presents an assorted enough mixture of sounds that it remains
fresh in the mind of the listener as each track progresses. As the tracks on
eLekatota all transition into each other rather smoothly, picking out individual
pieces of music can be difficult, though it does display a sonic stream of
consciousness with the right amount of musical peaks and valleys to keep it from
sounding monotone. Several tracks do stand out though, such as "Millenia" with
its subsonic bass pulses amid reverberating scrapes of metallic breakbeats. Some
deceptively simple layers of synthesized arpeggios create eerie waves of audio
tension as samples of Lance Henriksen from the debut episode of Chris Carter's
Millennium from the late '90s add to the morose ambience. Also notable are the
epic constructions of the almost 11-minute-long "Gift of Nervous Methods" in
which manipulated voices sampled from various films - in lieu of lyrics - echo
beneath the sonic surface to create a cavernous atmosphere as gyrating synth
plucks and percussive layers that continuously hint at drum & bass, though
without breaking into frenzy. Much of the album follows along these pathways,
and while the tracks certainly don't sound identical to each other in structure
or melody, there is a thematic flow to the album that, though enticing and
adding to Totakeke's sense of consistency and complexity, also could impair
one's ability to listen to the record from beginning to end in one sitting.
Still, eLekatota: The Other Side of the Tracks deserves much credit for its
elaborate production and composition without being oppressively complex to the
point that it becomes too daunting a task to listen. 3.5/5
Tympanik Audio, a Chicago based label, catches me a bit off guard with their first 2008 release from a New York producer, Frank Mokros, aka Totakeke. A dark, yet in places soft and sad downtempo album of intelligent rhythmic industrial, that smoothly flows from one track to the next with gloomy ambient pads and percussive, minimal, arpeggio-heavy synth lines. Mokros has previously appeared on a 2001 split with Radial on Ad Noiseam under his Ativ moniker. He also dropped numerous releases as Synth-Etik pumping more rhythmic noise for the German based Hands Productions. His most recent contribution includes a track for Tympanik Audio's first entry into the music biz with a well put together Emerging Organisms compilation, sprinkled with many great artists, like Architect, Hecq, Displacer, Ab Ovo and Phylum Sinter across two disks. For the likes of before mentioned artists (so grab the comp if you can). Favorite tracks: Carrier Signal, Gift Of Nervous Methods, and Fragile Thoughts.
Totakeke ist das Alter Ego des New Yorkers
Frank Mokros, der sich neben Ativ vor allem mit seinem Projekt Synth-Etik einen
Namen gemacht hat. Während letzteres eher für seinen heftigeren Ton bekannt ist,
nutzt Frank Mokros Totakeke dazu, etwas Neues auszuprobieren und neue Wege zu
gehen. Dazu verbindet er allerlei Spielarten der elektronischen Musik zu einem
musikalischen Wechselbalg. Seine Songs scheinen zu leben, entwickeln und bewegen
sich von Minute zu Minute und verändern ihr Angesicht. So auch auf seinem neuen
Album "eLekatota: The Other Side Of The Tracks".
Eben noch atmosphärischer Ambient und dann plötzlich technolastiges Gewummer.
Hinzu kommen synthetische Streicher, Sprachsamples (wenn auch selten) und sogar
Gitarrenpassagen. Dem Hörer fällt es schwer, in diesem sich ständig verändernden
Strudel der Musik den Überblick zu behalten. Die Orientierung wird zusätzlich
noch dadurch erschwert, dass die Tracks nahtlos ineinander übergehen. Was
Totakeke aber schafft, ist eine durchgehende Stimmung über alle Songs, die man
am ehesten als enthusiastische Melancholie bezeichnen könnte. Dieser rote Faden
ist umso verwunderlicher, wenn man hört, das "eLekatota" in einem Zeitraum von
knapp zwei Jahren entstanden ist.
Von diesem Album muss man sich tragen lassen, sonst könnte es schwierig werden,
es wirklich zu genießen. Das schöne daran ist, das dieses Album schwerlich
langweilig werden kann, was andererseits aber auch verhindert, dass "eLekatota"
sich im Gedächtnis verankert. Diese Reise muss man sozusagen fast immer wieder
von neuem antreten.
English Translation:
Totakeke is the alter ego of Frank Mokros from New York who has made his name
know most of all, with his project Synth-Etik. Where his last project was more
known for the strong tones, Frank Mokros now uses Totakeke to try something new
as well as go some new ways. He now makes use all of the varieties in electronic
music and combines those to create a completely new change in his sound . His
Songs seems to have a life to them, they evolve and move from minute to minute
and constantly change which you will also hear in his new album eLekatota, :The
Other Side of the Tracks. First of atmospheric ambient essence and then from
nowhere techno sounds. Add some synthetic Violins and voiceovers (which are
rare) as well as guitar passages. The listener can find it hard to keep up with
the constant changes in the music. The orientation even becomes harder with
tracks that flow from one to the other without a definite break.
What Toakeke does accomplish, is a constant specific mood throughout all the
songs, that one could best describe as enthusiastic melancholy. This red flag is
even more surprising when you hear that “eLekatota” was created over a time
period of almost two years. From this album you must be carful otherwise it
could be hard to really enjoy it. The nice thing about it is, that this album
really does not get boring. Yet it also means that “eLekatota” does not anchor
itself with you. The trip has to be taking always from the start and anew.
(Translated by Nicki Fahey)
Frank Mokros alias Totakeke aus New York liefert 13 Kapitel an
der Schnittstelle von Industrial, Electronica und IDM. "Millenia" schmückt
hervorragend stillgelegte Fabrikhallen mit industrieller Kulisse - Tanzbelange
kommen dabei nicht zu kurz. Melancholisch zieht das düster konzipierte "Gift Of
Nervous Methods" seine Kreise. Ohne große Umwege setzt
"Immolate" beim klassischen IDM an. Subtiles, aus verschiedenen Stilelementen
zusammengesetztes Album mit hohem Reifegrad - demnach mehr etwas für den Kopf.
Experimenten wurde genügend Platz eingeräumt. (4+/5 - Sven Hanke)
73 Minuten, die an einem nicht so leicht und spurlos vorbeigehen: Das ist das neue Album von Totakeke, Nummer zwei mittlerweile in der Bandgeschichte. Hinter diesem Projekt steckt der New Yorker Frank Mokros, der unter anderem durch Synth-Etik bekannt geworden ist. Als Totakeke macht der Friemelmeister hier einen besonders interessanten Spagat. Einerseits verbindet er sehr vertrackte Rhythmen mit schwebenden Synthieparts („Carrier Signal“ ist da vielleicht das genialste Stück, der zeigt, was man aus Drumprogrammings alles machen kann), andererseits merkt man dem Musiker auch seine Liebe für EBM-Strukturen, das gleich im darauffolgenden Song „Pull The Plug“ deutlich zu hören ist. Vor allem die Bassläufe verraten ihn. Das Besondere an „eLekatota“ ist vielleicht die Leichtigkeit, mit der die im Non-Stop-Verfahren zusammengeklebten Songs zum Hörer gelangen. Da ist zwar auch sehr viel Anspruch mit dabei, aber das ganze kommt einem nicht so schwer vor. Erst gegen Ende ist man eigentlich geplättet, weil man erst im Nachhinein merkt, was für ein kompliziertes und vielschichtiges Werk Totakeke hier abgeliefert hat. Und so bleibt eigentlich einem nichts anderes übrig, als auf Repeat zu drücken und noch mal 73 Minuten seines Lebens für das Album investieren muss, um es wieder etwas zu verstehen. Ganz großes Tennis!
Totakeke is a new project from Frank Mokros, who’s perhaps more known from the industrial noise outfit Synth-etik which releases albums via the Hands label. Totakeke however is musically something different, as while there are still influences of rhythmic industrial, this second album from Totakeke also features ambient and idm influences. As such this is a nice combination that really works wonderful with acts such as Detritus or Mnemonic, yet with Totakeke the set-up is being disturbed by the enormous amount of stylistic changes, tempo changes and atmospheric changes in the tracks. Also the tracks itself last too long sometimes, such as is perfectly illustrated by ‘Gift of Nervous Methods’. This makes it hard to listen to the album in it’s entirety. This also happens with Synth-etik but the music is so loud that it is not that disturbing there, with Totakeke however it doesn’t work, although the acid part in ‘Ignorance’ is a nice idea indeed. The best tracks are the drum ‘n bass / ambient idm minded ‘Carrier Signal’ and ‘Millenia’ which has a strong rhythmic industrial and techno influence.
Tympanik Audio -
The brilliant new album from New York producer, Frank Mokros (Synth-etik / Hands Productions) featuring 13 stunning tracks of complex rhythmic Industrial. With previous remix collaborations flanking the likes of Terrorfakt, Imminent, Radial, and Klangstabil, 2 successful releases for Frozen Empire Media, and a radiant new track on the recent Tympanik Audio compilation ‘Emerging Organisms’, Totakeke is back with his 2nd full-length album that proves to be his finest work yet. From start to finish, ‘eLekatota’ manages to effortlessly merge several genres of electronic music into one seamless body of work, without distorting the mood or veracity of the album as a whole. Each track feels alive, constantly morphing and shifting into new directions without the slightest loss of cohesiveness. A masterful collage of addictive rhythms, richly-layered beats, intriguing samples, and cavernous atmospherics, that all seem to somehow replenish themselves with each listen. ‘eLekatota: The Other Side of the Tracks’ is timeless opus that is sure to be hailed as one of the finest Industrial productions in years.