The entity behind the now retired Traumprinz, Prince Of Denmark and DJ Metatron aliases inspires the same sort of religious fervour reserved for fans of Apple hardware and Boards Of Canada releases. From our own internal statistics, our breaking news article of their latest pair of albums – under brand new pseudonyms Prime Minister Of Doom and DJ Healer – saw our “buy” button, leading to the mysterious All Possible Worlds portal, pressed an impressive amount of times within minutes of going live.
This is with good reason too: history shows that previous releases have quickly moved to “sold out” status, in spite of normally prohibitive pricing and a lack of available sound clips. True to form, Prime Minister Of Doom was first to have its stocks extinguished, with DJ Healer following suite recently. Before you start to wince at the already inflated Discogs copies on offer, chastising yourself for any indecision and poorly placed pay days: All Possible Worlds confirmed that fresh copies will be forthcoming.
With little but names to go on, it was a reasonable assumption that DJ Healer was going to focus on lighter works, with Prime Minister Of Doom being the darker club orientated tracks. It turns out that this is precisely what has transpired. For now, we are going to focusing on the latter release ‘Mudshadow Propaganda‘.
As a fan, if you’ve followed any of the mixes issued by the Planet Uterus, you’ll already be familiar with a lot of the tracks on offer here as they were initially showcased on a mix from 2016. This actually proves to be a canny piece of advertising that favours of Prime Minister Of Doom’s stripped back tracks. Through these previews, the contents are already firm favourites and exude an endearing familiarity by the time they are available to tangibly own . When you listen the tracks as standalone entities, the impact of a particularly anticipated hi-hat is like a thunderbolt from the heavens, while the slow crawl of diamond sparkling pads are awaited as if you were a child sat at a window, gazing at yellow clouds in anticipation of winter’s first snow.
Pinning ‘Mudshadow Propaganda‘ as merely a collection of club tools would be selling the album short. There is an art in doing a lot with very little, and a fine line that separates an engaging groove from a percussion stem. There is a certain amount of bravery required. Whether this is a by-product of an incredibly prolific output is another question. Holding your nerve and having the production mastery to enthral rather than alienate is a real skill.
Little moments keep your interest perked: ‘Drumatize‘ is one of a crop of heavy tribal orientated tracks, a pleasing genre reboot from the turn of the millennium. It, in particular, features an off-kilter calypso melody meanders away from rigid thump. It is polarising, like the penchant for dropping off beat acapellas from incredibly well known songs on previous Traumprinz releases. On other tracks – such as opener ‘Getting Things Started‘ and terse acid workout ‘Truth Inside‘ – the technique is that of the grand tease, where audio voyeurism through extended suggestion eventually manifests into a surprisingly euphoric fleeting glimpse of fragile melody.
Outside of the crop of percussive workouts, there are further highlights: ‘Deep In Your Heart‘ and ‘The Vibe‘ work out some particularly driving Detroit edged grooves, stellar finale ‘The Wai‘ tugs at the heartstrings, and ‘Grand Finale‘ has one of those intangible structures that never quite lets you settle on a definite strong first beat, as its syncopated pizzicato element determinedly wriggles away from the introverted low choral tone.
The only outlier on the album is ‘Truth Inside Of Me (Skit)‘, a two minute segment of ambient that repeats the title over and over that palate cleanses before the finale. It is thematically more befitting of the DJ Healer alter-ego, perhaps with an eye on preparing you for a hand over in mood. A mood that we will be discussing at length very soon.
It is amusing that many will often grab hold of the moniker they identify with the most when speaking about the anonymous figure behind these productions. For some it is Prince Of Denmark, for others Traumprinz. It is time to put these spectres to rest and embrace the new era. From what it seems, we are in for some absolute gold in the future.
TRACKLIST
A1. Getting Things Started
A2. Tribal Days Part II
B1. Tribal Days Part III
B2. The Vibe
C1. Drumatise
C2. Grand Finale
D. Deep In Your Heart
E1. Truth Inside
E2. Truth Inside Of Me (Skit)
F. The Wai
Discover more about All Possible Worlds and Prime Minister Of Doom on Inverted Audio.