Released
1996
Label
Metropolis Records
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Metropolis Records
Visit
Haujobb
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Haujobb
Last Edit/Update
21 January, 1998
Haujobb
SOLUTIONS FOR A
SMALL PLANET
Track Listing
1. Clockwise
2. Anti/Matter
3. Rising Sun
4. Depths
5. Sub Unit One
6. Journey Ahead
7. Distance
8. Deviation
9. Nature's Interface
10. Sub Unit Two
11. Cleaned Vision
12. The Rage Complex
13. Net Culture
14. Transfer
15. Sub Unit Two
The title of Haujobb's
1996 CD release -- Solutions For A Small Planet -- might just as well have been Problems
Of A Small Planet, since all the vocals on the CD circle around the present ills of
the world. This slight discrepancy of the title, along with the fact that the lyrics often
are a bit overwrought and heavyhanded, does not, however, change the fact that Haujobb
has produced an album of very compelling and highly danceable synth-based music.
Complimenting the conceptual orientation of the CD, Solutions For A Small Planet
has a very consistent sound based on insistent and dynamic electronic percussion,
supporting a wealth of computer-manipulated effects and simmering synth themes, topped off
with treated vocals that fluctuate between intense whispers and frantic yells and screams.
The songs on Solutions
For A Small Planet revolve around the role played by computers and electronic media in
the 'global village.' Haujobb projects these themes into the future and
paint a very grim picture of a world, where all interaction between people and their
environments has been delegated to the sharp-edged frames of computer/televison
screens. The band's reliance on machines and computers to generate their music is
naturally well suited to these themes.
Concerning human cloning and
cybernetics, the song "Clockwise" opens the CD on a particularly dark note. The
vocals have been turned into a robotic drawl and synthetic, cutting, droning soundwaves
zap across the insistent percussion loops like so much data travelling on the information
highway.
Another bleak vision is the
track "Depths," which reveals a melancholy beauty inside the machine. The sound
of an accelerating cardiogram pulses through the introduction of this piece, and then
fades into the oscillating atmospheres that constitute the background for the throbbing
rhythms and distorted computer effects that swirl around the vocals on the remainder of
the song.
"Nature's
Interface" is a slower, moody piece with the use of an acoustic piano theme lending
an undercurrent of nostalgia to the otherwise exclusively futuristic atmosphere of this
album. The overall tone of this track is one of anticipation, as it in a subtle way seems
to focus on the possibility of lifeforms from other planets visiting earth.
The above mentioned tracks
are some of the most accomplished on Solutions For A Small Planet. In general, the
songs sustain interest, although a few of them fail to develop and remain caught in
repetitive and predictable patterns. However, on an album containing more than 70 minutes
of music, this is hardly unexpected.
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