Test of time

Intrepid German techno twosome
Alter Ego stay ahead of the game

THIS IS THEN, THAT WAS NOW: Alter Ego

by JACK OATMON

Germans Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke are among the most talented, longstanding and influential techno producers in the world. It’s that simple. Since the early ’90s, they’ve been making freaky dance music that has gotten more intricate and visceral as time has gone on, with some of their latest work together as Alter Ego, notably the title track from late 2007 album Why Not?, coming out of the speakers like a psychotic circus sideshow as interpreted by a small fortune in analog machines. Right from their first release as Acid Jesus, 1993’s “Move My Body,” their creepy, intense style, booming production and creative vision has been evident. And that’s good, because their current live show will be exploring selections from their entire Alter Ego catalogue chronologically.

“We start with stuff from the very old, hard-house beginning of Alter Ego,” explains Wuttke, “like the Absolute EP, old analog stuff, some more minimal stuff, then on to our more recent stuff. So it’s really built up around the last 15 years of our music.”

The duo is also tinkering with material for an upcoming album. “The stuff we’ve been experimenting with is not so rock-oriented as some previous stuff. It’s more loop-based, funky stuff.”

By rock-oriented, Wuttke refers to tracks like “Rocker,” as Alter Ego were pivotal in popularizing the now-common style of electro that mimics rock composition and sound quality without using any actual rock instruments. Think Vitalic or MSTRKRFT. “But we also might have some more pop melodies and be a bit more song-oriented than the last album.”

As an aside, make sure to keep your ears peeled for Roman Flügel’s latest solo work, the excellent “Stricher,” recently out on Montreal’s Turbo Recordings, featuring a spooky, deep, subtle techno a-side and “Discofiasco,” the lighter, funkier b-side.

Though the two have been testing out new tracks, they’ve found that their material from two years ago is finally getting across to crowds. “Now, two years later, people have really started to understand what the album is all about. We’ve been touring in the past few months and people are freaking out, and we’ve got a really new and young crowd. It’s very strange.”

WITH JORDAN DARE AND DUVALL AT
SAT TONIGHT, THURSDAY,
SEPT. 24, 10 P.M., $20