Paperclip People (Carl Craig) – “Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich, The” – [Planet E Communications]

Naysayer   3/27/2013   12-inch, A Library

This is a remastered version of Detroit techno king Carl Craig’s “The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich”. Originally released in 1996, this double LP is a prime example of Craig at his dance floor best. Reviews use words like “essential” and “classic” and listening to this it’s easy to hear why. Starting off with low bass and background electronic sounds, a beat starts like a heartbeat. A vocal sample comes in talking about people suffering catastrophic violence while sounds of a person in stress are heard in the background. The heartbeat gets faster- silence – and then loudly a voice states “welcome to our world”. And the dance beats start for four glorious sides. Craig sticks to a 4/4 beat keeping it clean and simple but oh so smooth. Its mathematical beauty is fascinating and wonderful to follow. A beat starts. Then a new set of sounds come after, layering in, fading out, re-introducing. It’s like listening to a mandala. And side D “Country Boy Goes Dub” even samples a classic beat from Liquid Liquid. If techno has a concept album, this might be it. On Craig’s Planet E label.