Either Digital Geist is a spawn of two men with multiple personalities, or they are just incredibly talented (I'm voting for the latter). The album "The Zero Engine" is the newest from Digital Geist, a project composed of Alex K and Newt (with a little help from others). My comment about "multiple personalities" stems from how diverse this album is: although predominantly techno in nature, you can find elements of electro, psytrance, drum'n'bass, tribal and glitch/IDM on various tracks. It's impressive to find a project that can encompass all these genres, and do them all so well. Prepare for a nice long trip through hard dance beats, encompassing the aforementioned genres. Another thing you can respect about DG is the fact they don't bore you. Their music is masterfully arranged, with some beautiful and melodic intros, outros and interludes. Mostly instrumental dance music, they do include some spoken words on a few tracks, and vocals on "Someone Like Me". Throw into the fray remixes from Front 242, Neotek and Timid, and it just adds to the diversity. This is highly recommended for a fan of electronic dance music, especially for someone like me whose taste encompasses many genres.

Brooklyn electronic breakbeat manglers Digital Geist is Alex K with help from Newt (especially live), and their electro-pulsin' bag is all about the beat, daddy, the big bumpin' BEAT. Formed in 1999 as a bedroom 4-track band, the band has moved on through several demos and many live performances to reach this, their first official full-length album. The nine original tracks (augmented by three remixes by Front 242, Neotek, and Timid) were written, assembled, and sculpted into the staggering march of inventive beats and rhythms that propel this album forward from the moment it begins. The band's approach and feel owe a lot to the first wave of EBM acts like Front 242 and Cabaret Voltaire, with a mad emphasis on the beat and a fondness for simple but muscular rhythms. They spent a year working on the material, and it shows in an attention to detail (even in the background) and the lack of weak parts, which I would presume were weeded out over time and endless replays. What you're left with are nine tracks of prime meat and fat beats, clattering industrial rhythms like a throwback to the golden age of the cheap and simple beatbox, and an energy level that never flags. Great stuff, and extremely well-done in every aspect, from the recording and samples to the art and packaging. The three remixes at the end aren't bad either, although after such a commanding and unrelenting onslaught of pure damn BEATS, I'm not sure how necessary they are, even if the one by Front 242 does add all sorts of unspeakably cool efx and beat-happy drama. The beats you need playing on the speakers when you're looking for the booty you want in Clubland, doom childe, although they'll sound just as good at home.

This release from 2006 features 69 minutes of lively techno tunes. Digital Geist is Alex Kourelis and Newt, with spoken word contributions by Krista Dragomer. Extremely dense layers of BPMs and surging electronics conspire with a bevy of samples to generate hyperactive dance tunes. The electronics are a mixture of gritty and refined tones that blend to produce a seething vista of sultry synthetics. Pulsations of bass disposition infect the music, providing a rumbling foundation for the energetic melodies. Airy tonalities waft in the midst of all this, establishing a heavenly touch to the urban nature of the tuneage. A profusion of e-perc contributes complex rhythms that intertwine and flourish into lavish nests of dazzling tempos. The periodic repetition of electronic sounds augments these beats with additional rhythms, resulting in an abundance of percussion that often dominates the tunes. Spoken word passages are present in several tracks, lending clarification of the otherwise instrumental music's intended message. Other tracks feature vocoder vocals by the band. Compositionally, this music is remarkably slick, achieving a masterful mood of ebullient festivity, a celebration of futurist urban environments. Compressing human emotion with mechanical sentiment, the tunes bristle with dynamic fervor. Remixes of three songs are included, handled by the able talents of Front 242, Neotek, and Timid.

Digital Geist – das ist Alex Kourelis aus New York – eine Ein-Mann-Show zwischen Ambient, Electro und treibendem Techno. Die Mischung macht’s bei dieser Scheibe. Wer nur wenig Zeit hat, kann mit dem ersten Track ‚Earworm (No Light Guides Us)’ schon mal einen guten Überblick bekommen von dem was hier geboten wird. Denn mit Sprachgesang, der von der Intensität an das Sample aus ‚Little Fluffy Clouds’ erinnert, startet dieser Track, geht entspannt ein wenig wie ‚FSOL’ in der Accelerator-Zeit weiter bevor sich das Stück mehr und mehr zu einem mit knallenden Beats und Acid Anleihen ausgestatteten Technomonster entwickelt. Gleich am Anfang einer der besten Tracks! Die angenehme Stimme von Krista Dragomer gibt’s dann in drei weiteren Tracks zum Glück nochmal zu hören. Insgesamt spielt sich ansonsten auf diesem Album viel im instrumentalen Bereich ab, daneben gibt es aber noch einen Vocal-Tracks, der es in sich hat. ‚Someone Like Me’ mit Vocoder-Gesang eines gewissen ‚Newt’ macht im tanzlastigen Original als auch im Front 242 Remix, der an die ‚Tyrany for You’ Phase erinnert Laune. GUTEN Trance gibt es mit ‚Red Techno’, in dem zwischendrin klimpernd-elektronische Breaks wichtige Akzente setzen. Wer sich das Album zulegt bekommt noch ein Passwort zum Download neun weiterer Tracks geliefert. Und wer jetzt glaubt, das seien so in etwa die Reste, die im Studio eben liegen geblieben sind, der täuscht sich ganz gewaltig: die Tracks mögen thematisch vielleicht nicht alle ins Konzept des ‚Zero Engine’ Albums passen, aber bspw ‚Swimming at Night With You’ ist sicherlich DER Track, in dem Alex beweist, dass er atmosphärisch dicht coole Chill-Out-Musik machen kann, die begeistert. Vier Remixes gibt es außerdem von ‚Someone Like You’. Zwei davon sind sehr viel experimenteller als der Rest der Songs ausgefallen, genauso wie der ‚Abstractology Remix’ von ‚Red Techno’. Den Front242 Remix finden wir nochmals in der instrumentalen Version. Schließlich muss noch der Track Arc erwähnt werden, der schöne Leftfield- lastige Sounds mit Vocals vereint, die entfernt an Legenden wie John Lydon erinnern. Für Freunde der ordentlichen, grenzüberschreitenden elektronischen Musik mit viel 'Bum-Bum' findet sich mit ‚Zero Engine’ ein Schmankerl das zwar bereits 2006 veröffentlicht wurde, vielleicht aber das erste kleine Highlight für ein gelungenes musikalisches 2007 ist.