MIT - Coda

Teenaged German electronic trio MIT know how to create a mood. Coda is simultaneously slick, austere, anxious, and immediate. Though at times they sink into cookie cutter minimal techno, their keen compositional sense saves them as they add and subtract parts at just the right times to maintain a high energy level. With its laid back - even funky - electric piano stabs, and glitchy percussion, Zwei would be excellent music for copulating with sexy robots in an underground lair. Rauch features a synth line plucked from 1980s Nintendo that would make Kraftwerk proud, and Gibt Es Denn Keine Anderen Grunde is powered by a tribal house beat. However, even at Coda's strongest points it feels like MIT are holding back. They build a wonderful framework and then leave out the climactic hook that brings down the house. I expect MIT will be taking that last step sometime soon. [Tobias Kahn]