monoton – monotonprodukt 02 (1980)

In 1980, a young Austrian named Konrad Becker accentuated electronic capability amidst the tonal constraints of ‘Western music’. A year later, he acted in Das Boot. Becker is now a lecturer, among many, many other things. A single lecture of his will cast most mainline documentaries to the realm of the rudimentary. Monotonprodukt 02 conveys ‘awakening’ with awesome depth: great fear and great fun can be had in deciding exactly what is arising. In that process, it is worth considering the ubiquity of algorithms determined by what will succeed on TikTok, in light of Monoton’s desire to ‘obliterate the composer’. On crude equipment, Monoton extended electronic music to the politically and economically symbolic.

27/30

A favourite: ‘Ein Wort’