Machine Woman – Genau House
Russian-born, Berlin-located Anastasia Vtorova has been publicly sharing music with us for three years now, uploading experimentations to her SoundCloud page in between releases for labels like Tesla Tapes and Peder Mannerfelt Produktion. Her music as Machine Woman so far has been perfect for people who want to take the dancefloor into a weirder, deeper headspace while still pumping out sub-bass powerful enough to make your stomach lurch.
With her music, Vtorova leads us down the stairs into the depths of a techno dungeon. There, you’ll find the clanking, muffled sound of machinery, eerie drones and even the sound of a computer, spluttering in its fight to stay alive. Above the sonic experimentations, Vtorova’s voice emerges from the darkness bathed in a smokey haze of echo effects; her vocals are delivered in a loud whisper as if her words are meant for your ears only.
For Genau House, her debut release on Where To Now?, she declares softly: “I can mend your broken heart.” The three-track 12” tells stories about tinder dates and being turned away from a Berlin club. There’s a notable balance between the powerful dynamics of her production and the quietly commanding nature of the strong whisper she uses to wrap stories around our ears.
There’s an air of sensuality too, especially on “I Can Mend Your Broken Heart”, that we could use more of in techno. It’s most present as Vtorova slowly drawls “Oh yeah,” extending the syllables over the throb of the sub-bass. With Kassem Mosse on remix duties, he takes the track into an even darker, more sensual place – putting emphasis on the story Vtorova is telling while chopping up her voice behind into a spooky one-woman choir.
On “Friday Night”, Vtorova manipulates her voice to be several registers deeper. “I want to show you how I get down,” she asserts. Underneath, apocalyptic sonics whirr and clank – the bass swelling and speeding past in individual sections. The end of every bass pulse sounds like a bubble popping under water. Genau House shows that Machine Woman is only just getting started, ready to pump systems with more ghostly, freaky techno.
Aurora Mitchell
Tracklisting:
A1. I Can Mend Your Broken Heart
B1. Friday Night
B2. I Can Mend Your Broken Heart (Kassem Mosse Remix)