Sool

Ellen Allien has been a keystone figure in Berlin techno for three decades plus — and her longevity is certainly linked to her adaptability. It’s not that she copies any style, more that she listens to the mood of the time, then comes back with a response that is still her. Whether it’s industrial and pounding in the late ’90s, bordering on electroclash around the turn of the millennium, or this response to the ultra-minimal mood of the mid ’00s, she knows how to catch a vibe but go somewhere fresh with it. Starting with the sound of the Berlin U-Bahn announcements, this album revolves around subsonic booms and small clicks and hisses, only making sense on a big enough system to make the tunes surround you, each one opening up like a different room in a labyrinthine venue outside of normal space and time. It’s a boho techno dream of a record.