Only very few German producers have been showered with praise as much as Robot Koch – with his many albums and EPs, he has set numerous milestones for electronic music. Of course, the pressure gets bigger and bigger whenever an exceptional artist releases something new. However, with his new album, the Berliner by choice has proven that he can stand up to that kind of pressure once again. The title, The Other Side explains itself only after repeated and close listening; at first, there doesn’t seem to be a major difference compared to his older productions. Even on those, one could find melodies which seemed to have traveled from another world and which, in combination with their slow but clearly defined rhythms, seem to give the listener an idea of what music might be like in a distant future. Hence, at first glance, it seems as if nothing has changed, at all. However, if one doesn’t just focus on the respective tracks but on the album as a whole, it becomes obvious that the mood – compared to Songs For Trees And Cyborgs, for example – has changed. On The Other Side, Robot Koch is presenting himself in a much more calmed and maybe even contemplative manner than what would be expected from him. This album was definitely not made for the dancefloor, no matter how experimental the floor might be. Robot Koch is showing us another side of electronic music – a side, which is all about the quiet moments of life and in which one can simply lean back and allow the thought to wander freely.
The Other Side
