Stewart Walker: Grounded in Existence
Persona

The average shelf life of electronic music is so woefully short (for proof, dust off an old issue of The Wire from the ‘90s and count the number of artists featured who've since disappeared from view) that it's heartening to discover an 'old master' like Stewart Walker still issuing music. Though his discography is impressively deep (he's released material on labels like Tresor and Richie Hawtin's M_nus), a particular high point remains the 1999 Force Inc. full-length Stabiles. The relevant question here is whether, six years on, Grounded in Existence (issued on his own Persona imprint) sounds dated or fresh.

Before setting out to create another 'home listening' album and a thematic successor to Stabiles, Walker spent time absorbing hip-hop and indie rock with the intent of integrating those styles into his minimal techno. In truth, there's little by way of an audible indie rock influence on Grounded in Existence but there's definitely a conspicuous hip-hop presence in the minimal boom-bap and rumbling beats of “Sprites” and a similar feel emerges in other tracks too (“Body House the Soul,” “Everything's...”); it's a shame, in fact, that the folk- and hip-hop flavoured “Benstrumental” is so brief, given how sweet its tight beats sound. The feel appears less overtly too on the slightly chilled opener “Orchestra” and “Spearthrowing” whose chugging groove is nicely propelled by reverb-soaked snare thwacks.

Walker surprises elsewhere too. The glowing synth melodies that intertwine over crisp, stuttering pulses in “Rein in Chaos” recall Kraftwerk's “Computer World” while the sunkissed tech-house groove, delicate guitar figures, and warm electronics in “Footnote and Annotate” could be mistaken for Xela (John Twells). Most interestingly, the cool, sleek sound of Grounded in Existence often bears a striking resemblance to Monolake. “Our Best Work is Behind Us” includes whirrs and washes that are characteristic of the Berlin group, and the same can be said for the beat structures in “Sprites” and “Chimera.” Though lacking the conceptual dimension associated with Monolake releases, Grounded in Existence exudes a similarly futuristic and pristine sound. Walker's album isn't a pastiche, however; it's more that he's opened his ears to other sounds and worked them into his own. Best of all, the album's eleven stylistically varying techno excursions weigh in at a bloat-free 47 minutes.

June 2005