If any one electronic artist merits comparison to
the Beatles, it would have to be
Jochem Paap. Because while the Fab Four may far outpace the
Dutch techno producer when it comes to global popularity, his catalog of releases easily matches
the Beatles in terms of diversity, development, and absolute quality. This first album, released on
Richie Hawtin and
John Acquaviva's
Plus 8 record label, finds
Paap at roughly the same point on the growth curve that
the Beatles were during
Rubber Soul. After establishing a fan base with energizing yet simplistic acid 12"s like
"Three O'Three" and
"Something for Your Mind," Paap reins in some of the manic energy of his early releases, concentrating more closely on the lush and fulfilled sound palette and thoughtful composition that would be his trademark until the rampant
experimentalism of his third album,
Public Energy No. 1. The chopping intro of
"R2 D2" gives way to a light
electro beat garnished with tickling synthesizer bleeps and grandiose waves of machine sound that are at once playful and intense.
"Basic Design" introduces
Paap's signature drum decay, while the bubbling-forward bassline would become a hallmark of early
proto-trance recordings. Every sound is magnificently structured, in perfect pitch and timber with every other sound, making
Ginger a masterpiece of
techno music as audio design.
As a vehicle of the times,
Ginger singled a furtherance from
techno's dancefloor mandate that would be followed by revered groups such as
Autechre and
the Black Dog. This advancement in
techno's sound would advocate the first use of the
Intelligent Dance Music (
IDM) tag. While every track on
Ginger still relies on a 4/4 beat for its composition, none possess a tempo or percussive element hefty enough to meet dancer's needs. Although remixes would turn cuts like
"Pepper," with its weightless
ambient sweeps, into trancing dancefloor jams,
Paap's clear purpose on
Ginger was to take his music out of the
rave and into the home-listening environment. And not until the decade-later hard
techno of
Loudboxer would
Paap return to his dancefloor roots, similar to
the Beatles' return to
rock captured in the
Let It Be sessions. ~ Joshua Glazer