Get Off

by François CoutureIt took Peter Rehberg two years to prepare Get Off. The bar was set high after 2002's Get Down, a striking LP of intelligent, personal, visceral electronic music, and Get Off jumps over that bar with room to spare. If Rehberg (either as Pita or in other guises) can be held responsible for -- accidentally -- triggering a trend or two, he has never been one to follow them, and this CD proves it without a doubt. The opening cut, "Eternel," is unmistakably Pita: rough analog-sounding tones, a wide use of space, assertive loudness, and that quirky, tongue-in-cheek seriousness that has been setting his work apart from the beginning. Listeners are told that this album has evolved between 2002 and 2004 from the artist's live performances; those who have experienced his music in concert settings will recognize the grandeur of the music and the feeling of being lost inside something larger and busier than life. "Like Watching Shit on a Shelf" is the noisiest track of the album and points in the direction Fennesz has been heading for since Endless Summer, yet it pushes things deeper into harshness, obliterating the "cuteness" factor usually associated with Fennesz. "More Break After the Terror" and "Luzthm" are delicate, shimmering pieces where tones (again, that early analog-sounding warmth) are cleverly orchestrated in time and space. "Babel" is more vehement, getting back to the more entertaining moments on Get Down, while "Retour" concludes the album with a study in glassy sound. Weaker, this last piece is overstretched -- in fact, structurally speaking, it could have been three minutes or 20 minutes long, instead of its nine minutes, which gives the impression that its duration was arbitrarily set to reach the 35-minute album mark. Nevertheless, this is a strong release, recommended for fans of Hecker, Fennesz, and the like.