In the course of the Aqualung Series, Rotterdam-based Clone, record store and label in institutional union, reissues records by Drexciya and various other projects of James Stinson, who died in 2002, and Gerald Donald. Japanese Telecom, a pseudonym of Donald, remains in its fame probably behind Dopplereffekt or Arpanet, nevertheless it offers well-done Electro, unmistakably from Drexciyan pen. »Virtual Geisha« was originally released in 2001 on DJ Hell’s International Deejay Gigolo Records and still sounds fresh enough 21 years later to keep up with the zeitgeist. The first three tracks sweep along at different speeds, inherent in them is the oft-cited machine funk. »Enter Mrs. Suzuki«, on the other hand, marks an interlude that sounds like modem tones and the old 2D parts of the Metroid series – somehow stale, yet ominous and charming at the same time. The album’s centerpiece is the fantastic »Virtual Origami«, which blurs the line between electro and house in a similar way to Drexciya’s most famous track »Andreaen Sand Dunes«. »Virtual Geisha (She Interacts)« alternates beatless phases with machine-like, plodding drumming, then soars with sublime Kraftwerk synths to become perhaps the album’s most beautiful track. Japanese Telecom doesn’t work with the emotionality Stinson served up in Lifestyles of the Laptop Café. »Virtual Geisha« sounds more artificial, colder and thus maintains distance in a sublime way.
Ken Ishii
Reference To Difference
Sublime