Song of the Day: Objekt - Ratchet

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Ratchet” by Objekt from the 2014 album Flatland on PAN.

Objekt - Ratchet (MP3)

Since his emergence in 2011, Britain-via-Berlin producer Objekt crafts dense techno constructions whose sonic and compositional range thrillingly reconfigure past ideas into new forms. The musician also known as TJ Hertz began making music at a young age, eventually studying electronic and information engineering at the University of Oxford and transferring those skills to his musical endeavors. His debut 12" (2011's Objekt #1) was a direct response (and a subtle parody) of the bass-heavy dubstep music that was dominating electronic circles at the time, and that cheeky, intriguing spirit continues to run through his music, often reinterpreting tropes in a revisionist, rather than nostalgic, manner. His debut album, 2014's Flatland, was crafted in a different manner than his singles, opting for a cohesive, atmospheric piece of work than a simple collection of his previous, more club-ready tracks. Although it's one of the album's few uptempo tracks, "Ratchet" is anything but a traditional club track, opting for constant, shifting tension instead of peaks and valleys of sound. Hertz' drum machines snap and slash like a cocking automatic weapon, but in a clever twist, he arranges the percussive bursts in a manner that fashions them into textural, not rhythmic, elements. It's an enthralling juxtaposition that both completely embraces techno music's basic elements and also irreverently flips them.

Hertz has a series of European DJ sets and a one-off show in Los Angeles in March planned across the next few months, and if he announces any further North American shows, he'll announce them on his Tumblr and Facebook. Below, watch Hertz' video for the Flatland track "Second Witness".