Asuna & Jan Jelinek - Signals Bulletin

Many know Berlin-based Jan Jelinek as a quite successful producer who, since 1998, has consistently put out amazing electronic music. It’s hard to put his music in words. His unique style could be described as Minimal Techno, Ambient, or maybe “Intelligent Dance Music”, putting him in line with artists like Aphex Twin, The Orb, or Leftfield.

Asuna, on the other hand, is probably lesser known in the Western world. The Japanese sound artist uses organs to create drone-like sounds, by taping valves of his organ open or shut whilst playing them. This makes for some unique soundscapes that can be quite soothing, but also quite menacing at times. So knowing the background of both these artists, we can already assume we’re in for a treat. And let me tell you: we are!

The album consists of five tracks which the two artists have created over a span of three years in Berlin, Kyoto, and Kanazawa. With a play time of about 50 minutes, the album takes us on a fantastic journey into space. The soundscapes Jelinek and Asuna create are so futuristic, and yet so familiar that you immediately let yourself be taken away by them. Imagine a scene from a sci-fi movie, when the astronauts leave the space ship for the first time and are in this peaceful, neverending space, floating through zero gravity. It’s slightly scary, sublime even, yet it is also incredibly amazing and awe-inspiring. That’s the feeling Signals Bulletin manages to capture in its music. Having said that, it can get quite unnerving after a while, and you wish for it to turn down a notch – which is my biggest problem with this album. It is so intense, it gets tiresome after the third track. When I started writing this review, I accidentally hit the pause button on my player, and it was this moment of absolute quiet that made me think: wow, I can’t wait for this to go on. The sudden stop created anticipation but also gave me a chance to catch my breath. I was a bit disappointed when I realised that it was not an intended stop of the music, but rather my own doing.

All in all, the album is definitely worth a listen and should be considered by fans of experimental electronic music. It is, however, very intense and not something I’d put on regularly.