Cleen
Designed Memories
Metropolis
Cleen are Thorsten Meier and Daniel Meyer. This overseas duo take the path least traveled. On Designed Memories, they successfully mesh coldwave, light industrial, and minimal techno into a mix of restrained beats and trance melodies. “Believe,” the opening track, exhibits all of the aforementioned elements; it’s a “cold” mix that harkens back to the earlier portion of this decade. Although nowadays, they might not be so widely accepted as they might have back when the rules of the dancefloor were literally wide open. Eerie, distant and pale in comparison to the shiny happy techno of the day, Cleen are destined to shake ex-Manson/Hanson groupies free of the crippling rhetoric offered by kiddie acts and into their own tragic melodies for the next age of degeneration. Further examples: “Freezout,” a hard breakbeat track, “Smoking Enemy,” along the D&B tip, and “For All of Us,” gloomy straight beats. Neophytes should utilize some caution while hearing this for the first time. Metropolis Records, P.O. Box 54307, Philadelphia, PA 19105; http://www.metropolis-records.com
