The eccentric Dutch producer, Legowelt and his menagerie of classic synths have created yet another timeless album, adding to an extensive discography of a truly ingenious creative figure. Legowelt’s signature sound, which uses an arsenal of coveted vintage synthesisers, is all over this record and the producer has taken extensive care to create an album rather than a collection of singles. Everything is densely layered with a focus on harmony and counterpointing melodic phrases surrounding lively percussive rhythms on this record.
Legendary Freaks in the Trash of Time is Legowelt veering very little from the sound of his early career in the the late nineties and early 2000’s where his music found the ear of Bunker records boss Unit Moebius and launched a career as one of the most idiosyncratic producers of our era. From Bunker to Clone to L.I.E.S to Creme Organisation and Unknown to the Unknown, Legowelt’s records have made severe impressions in the world of Techno and House and where other’s have wavered and adapted to accommodate trends and scenes, Legowelt has remained a constant and in many ways he is his own trend.
“Legendary Freaks in the Trash of Time” is very much a record for the heads, but also a record for those seeking something outside modern House and Techno tropes. There’s something a little more refined and distinguished on this latest album, taking that raw energy and brutalist sound of earlier records like Dark Days and tempering the edges off the sound. Tracks like “Trips in Polarius” and “New Stories” could have been much more aggressive than their final take where we hear a softer side to Legowelt’s earlier works, as the percussive elements are pushed a little further back into mix and melodic phrases drip down sweetly from their harmonic genitors.
There’s a euphoric disposition underpinning each track, lifting hands in the air towards that intangible height where lasers cut through the miasmic air. It can be quite nostalgic, but with a modern production touch there’s little trace of a retrospective take from Legowelt. Where albums before this like “Crystal Cult 2080” and “The Paranormal Soul: are products of their time, albeit with a undeniable Legowelt approach “Legendary Freaks in the Trash of Time” steps completely out of time and stands on its own, as a modern classic.