Vainqueur - Elevation

This lengthy record by Berlin artist Rene Lowe really only has three components: a slowly looping riff, a dim buzzing ambience, and another, barely noticeable element. Yet, as Vainqueur, Lowe compensates for his lack of ingredients with a merciless amount of phasing, modulation, and alteration. These simple, repeating loops sound different on each of their countless loops, sometimes fading to silence and other times fighting through the thick distortion toward clarity. The effects are far more interesting than the ingredients, with the surreal, mutating sounds producing dizzying results. Depending on the state of the listener, this music is liable to provoke feelings of relaxation, hallucination, nausea, boredom, meditation, or disorientation. No matter the result, though, the song evokes strange feelings quite unlike those normally associated with music, making Elevation somewhat of a special record. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide