Bleep

An incredibly important chapter within the Drexciya story, Elektroworld was shrouded in mystery when it dropped in 1995, originally said to be the work of four young sons of an electrician based in Flint, Michigan. Yet time has since revealed otherwise. Originally released on Warp Records, Elecktroids’ legendary album was rescued from the depths two decades later, finally made available again via the Clone Classic Cuts series. Recorded in tribute to “those well known pioneers of the electro-disco-beat; Kraftwerk,” Elektroworld features some of the most otherworldly and endlessly playful electro to ever reach the surface of the deep oceanic discography of Drexciya.

Warp had built up to Elektroworld with releases from Drexciya and affiliates Ultradyne, and the resulting album is truly one of the most important electro-techno records ever made, still to this day sounding as vital, fresh, and cold as when it was first released. “W-w-welcome to the f-f-future” introduces a distended radio bumper, with excitable robot voices and lowkey drum machines swerving into a chrome plated Motor City. From there, it’s a chirping, stormy vortex of life affirming and hardware devoted pure electro.

Fluttering with chiptune splatters, glitzy disco rhythms, and the occasional jazzy interlude, Elektroworld is a total feast of synth exploration. Rich varieties of synth timbres are glued together by bass grooves, with the tweeting high pitched synth glides and cruising chords of ‘Midnight Drive’ conjuring palm trees and cool breeze, while ‘Japanese Elecktronics’ is an ode to the machines that make all this possible with spiralling, glistening melodies.

Elektroworld is a vital entry in the Drexciya catalogue, a must own in every electro connoisseur's record collection.