Objekt - Cocoon Crush

TJ Hertz aka Objekt’s discography so far has been a bag of surprises. I’ve never been sure if he’s more sound designer or producer of club material. His second album ‘Cocoon Crush’ definitely falls into the first category. There are traces of Amon Tobin, B12, Burial, FSOL, Richard Devine, Monolake, but also 70/80s Vangelis.

It has a cinematic and futurist feel to it, lots of strange FM bells as well as ethnic influences. Instruments I’d personally avoid. And that’s what I find interesting here: the context TJ created here is his own. While upping his game.

The glitchy parts could completely derail, and they don’t. The plethora of effect trickery adds dimension and groove. It’s an invitation and the kind of classic electronic music album in the vein of ISDN I’ll want to listen to again and again from beginning to the end. It makes the format of the long-player shine. That’s a much needed thing.

A contender for the electronic album of the year. My favorite track: Lost and Found (Found Mix).

If you’d like to learn more about TJ’s approach, process and a lot of further topics, Lauren Martin asked him a load of great questions for Red Bull Music Academy (thx Johan for pointing me to it).

PS: his latest DJ excursion into club music without kick drums for RA is dope, too.