That techno has aged a little should come as no surprise after roughly four decades – depending on when one starts counting. Yet the prediction that a Detroit project might one day celebrate its 30th anniversary would likely have provoked loud protest in the 1990s, accused of embodying an anti-techno stance. Ephemerality was the order of the day: only the present mattered, futurism notwithstanding. Dopplereffekt – the duo of Rudolf Klorzeiger and To-Nhan – now have every reason to mark exactly such a milestone. They do so with their first EP for Tresor, one of Berlin’s foundational techno labels.
Early on, Dopplereffekt liked to present themselves as the clowns of electro; over time, the titles grew more abstract, and the music followed suit. With their 2022 album Neurotelepathy, they delivered a major statement – one that Metasymmetry now builds upon. As discursive accompaniment, a fair amount of techno-philosophical theory is supplied, though whether it can truly be traced within the track structures is open to debate. What Dopplereffekt do, quite simply, is continue their path of complex techno.
The refined results make them – to risk a crude comparison – feel a little like the Led Zeppelin of the Detroit tradition. Led Zeppelin, of course, were declared villains by the punk generation, somewhat unfairly; at the very least, their music has endured remarkably well. Perhaps the same will be said of Dopplereffekt in 50 years’ time.
Metasymmetry
