Glitterbug's masterful "Passages"

It is neither an easy task to infuse Techno with literal meaning, nor does Techno desires to be informed that way. Historically speaking, Electronic Music rarely dabbled in referentiality, opting for abstract concepts and concrete aesthetics instead. Color us flabbergasted then, when we heard of Cologne's Glitterbug preparing a full-length album called "Cancerboy" that set out to illustrate the artist's personal experiences with cancer when he was a young child. It's not as big a surprise, however, when you've paid attention to Glitterbug's work before: together with Israeli videographer and editor Ronni Shendar, he's responsible for postnationalist festival C.Sides, taking its transgressive agenda to his own production work and publicly reflecting on the substantial capabilities of Techno since his first outings as producer and DJ. Luckily, all that subtextual rambling is put across with great musical (and visual) skill, as the album's track "Passages" and its video easily demonstrate: austerity seldom sounded as funky as here. "Cancerboy" is out on May 7th and comes as double vinyl or CD.