Designer Time

Reptilicus is an electronica group from Iceland, where Hafler Trio's Andrew McKenzie also lives, and the two groups hooked up for a number of releases in the mid-1990s. The collaborative release Designer Time was from 1994, and McKenzie produced Reptilicus' 1995 release, O, as well as remixing two tracks from that release for a remix CD in 1996. The electronica influences are manifested in the techno-like rhythm loops that permeate this album. There is a vocal sample in a repeated fast rhythm that is a central part of both "Anamorphosis" and "Theolepsy," providing the album with a strong unifying element. There are also three rhythm loops that permeate the final ten minutes, coexisting with a feedback drone more akin to the Hafler Trio's previous releases. The various vocal loops are the more obvious Hafler touches, from the child-like distortions in "Wave a Dead Chicken" to the choral loop in "Anamorphosis." Overall, the techno elements make this one of the more aggressive Hafler Trio releases, the closest the group gets to the dance and electronica traditions of the 1990s, and fairly distant from the ambient sounds which have become their trademark. ~ Caleb Deupree