Ultra-slick production and an eclectic selection of sounds are two strengths of the Rather Interesting label. Flextone is no exception. With his own label, Atom Heart starts right from release #1. The lush and colorful graphic designs more then compensate for the minimalist stance of RI's mother label, Fax. There are no hints of talent-in-infancy here, no suggestions that certain techniques should be more refined and less archaic sounding. By the time Uwe Schmidt started his own label in September 1994, he obviously had much musical experience and a well-formed idea that here in his completely self-created forum, would he perform and exhibit everything he learned from releases on so many previous labels. No genre or style is spared, no production strategies left idle.

• 01-alaska: The name of the first track suggests a vast and chilled domain. This is a house track to hear. A solid 4otF pumping bassdrum is the foundation for sticky, morphing handclaps, a funky snare, and synthesized Fizz-Wizz candy pops. A simple yet playful melody completes a collection of oddly chosen sounds for a kickin' house stomper. Despite all these aural oddities, "alaska" is still somehow archetypical and iconic in nature. Call it a well-spent 5'55''.

• 02-flextone B: Songs like these are part of the reason people are driven to collect hundreds upon hundreds of records. Some songs are so purely satisfying that they seem transparent, as if their coded vibrations speak directly to the emotional centers, bypassing completely anything in the way of their message. And the message here is complete musical contentment. A "must-hear" if you will. Wonderfully layered, those who appreciate "Plexus Solaris" from Zenith would really dig this track which shares a similar melody pattern, but from a lumbering rhythmic perspective.

• 03-afterwords, i felt better: The title suggests the theraputic approach, with cyclical drones and a colorfully sequenced combo of hi-hats and distorted rims. The overall effect shows kinship to Orange [monochrome stills], Cymatic Scan, or parts of Flashback Signal without the beats.

• 04-rather abstract: Flextone's resident Atom Heart noodler. And this is not meant to be a put-down. Here, the theoretical sound is captured with clicks, a hi-hat that sounds like sequenced tinnitus, and occasional static bursts all mapped onto a steady, mid-tempo 4otF. Begins and ends with suspenseful synth riffs.

• 05-sound: Reminds me of the track "Home Sweet Home" from Softcore. Very clinical... hold still, the master is at work. Various pulsations are forced through filters that give the effect of brightening and dulling the sounds at smooth, alternating intervals. Definitely stirs up the overall flow of the album.

• 06-instant replay: A common track title among ambient psychedelicacies. It's packed with crazy twiddly noises, schizoid hi-hat chirps, and a 303 that sounds like it inhaled some helium before coming into the studio. Sort of in the Bitniks vein, assorted choppy percussive segments and wierd glitchlike synth spasms galore.

• 07-FLE: Has that fishtank feel: slow moving giants floating here and there.... migrating. Unidentifiable, yet definitely in the vicinity. About 90 seconds into it and what's this?! Yes, it's a lumbering house rhythm that comes forth! No mistakin' it. The free feeling I associate with housey beats collides with a mysterious background wash unwilling to reveal its true nature. How he gets two incompatable styles like this to work is truely amazing. Salient, trickley water droplets give the impression that your headphones are sweating, or perhaps dripping with early morning dew.

• 08, 09: These songs don't have any titles on the CD, but are certainly worth hearing. Don't want to give all the surprises away do we?!

• 10-untitled: For me, the album's most challenging track. A pulsating rhythm stirs up a handful of clean bleep-bloops and what sounds like sampled mome-rath mating calls. You know, from Alice....

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