"Like those formative moments of psychedelic experimentation, the music of GAS can feel revelatory and other worldly. It’s less of a voyage into space than a deep dive into the psyche."
As Wolfgang Voigt’s GAS project approaches three decades of existence, its influence is so widespread that it’s often overlooked. Take a listen to any ambient techno playlists or browse new releases and the chances are good that you’ll hear strands of Voigt’s influence. One of Inverted Audio’s favourite labels, Astral Industries, boasts a discography deeply influenced by his work, and they’ve even brought in Voigt for a release under his own name. That’s only the most prominent example. You can scour any streaming service and let the algorithm lead you to countless releases that wouldn’t exist without Voigt and GAS.
Born at a time when chillout rooms aided the happy raver in coming down after a night of dancing, labels like Warp and Kompakt were branching out to release records suited for home listening. Legend has it that GAS was inspired by Voigt’s youth experiences with LSD and walking through the forests near his home of Cologne. With GAS, Voigt showed that the dance floor wasn’t the only place for a transcendent musical experience. Instead of a placid, pastoral ambient new age retreats, Voigt dived into a sound that presents an unnerving exploration of sonics and space. Like those formative moments of psychedelic experimentation, the music of GAS can feel revelatory and other worldly. It’s less of a voyage into space than a deep dive into the psyche.
With Kompakt’s reissue of GAS’ self-titled debut album, originally released in 1996 via Mille Plateaux, Voigt shows that the project’s versatility, mystery, and allure were there from the get go. Unlike many discographies, which showcase an artist’s evolution with larger slates of gear, budgets, and experience, GAS’ oeuvre sounds like an infinity loop, slightly morphing with each release but embodying the same ethos and psychedelic appeal from its start in 1995 to the present day. It’s a sound of its time, futuristic, and timeless all at once.
‘GAS’ plays out as an hour and a half hallucinatory web of ambient dub techno, with Voigt’s minimal palette effectively enveloping the listener in a hazy sonic fog. Its six untitled tracks each stretch beyond the ten minute mark, yet you’re never left bored or checking your watch. The run time passes in the blink of an eye, whether you’re tuning in for an immersive headphone session or playing it as background ambience. Amorphous samples, effects, and keys swirl together and mesh with sparse subterranean beats. It’s a formula that, on paper, sounds too simple to be engaging, yet in the hands of Voigt the sounds meld together for an engrossing spectral symphony.
The collection is best experienced as one whole but a track that rises above the clouds is the beat-forward third track. Arriving over thirty minutes into the album, it leaves the impression of a palette cleanser returning to the traditional 4/4 dub techno sound many listeners know. Soon after it begins, as is the hallmark of GAS’ work, it takes on a repetitive, alien quality that lends it a deeply sinister edge that feels like a waking dream you still don’t quite believe you’re a part of.
When you dig through the album, it’s surprising that ‘GAS’ has been out of print for so long. It’s not only one of the best GAS releases, which says a lot, but it’s quickly taking the form of an essential piece of electronic music that holds up on repeated listens without feeling like you’re taking a history lesson. Voigt’s production never feels stale; rather, it’s an exhilarating ambient techno odyssey that brims with confidence and an enjoyable complexity that blossoms the further you go down the rabbit hole.
GAS reissue is out now via Kompakt. Order the x3 vinyl reissue from Inverted Audio Record Store.
TRACKLIST
A. Untitled
B. Untitled
C. Untitled
D. Untitled
E. Untitled
F. Untitled