Serial Error was founded as a New Beat project when Jacob Korn was asked for a submission to the ‘Our Beat Is Still New’ compilation series on the Belgian We Play House label in late 2014. Knowing the retro-experienced skills of his label mates from Uncanny Valley, he teamed up with Credit 00 & Sneaker and they produced Drum Abuse, a track that finally became the cue for their first full 12” maxi single in 2018 on Rat Life Records; a label curated by Credit 00.
Now they keep on malfunctioning with a 4-tracker featuring the bizarre title Afro Gothic. The eponymous track was the first shot when they got together for a second EP in Jacob’s studio in now demolished premises (the typical daily Rat Life). The slow, steamy roller captures the amateurish live percussion skills of Credit 00, while – on the other hand – he played one of the manuals of Jacob’s ‘Son of GX’ organ along with Sneaker playing the other manual of the leading voice synth. On top, they added a classic acapella – a sudden strike of genius – ‘perfectly matching the solemn vibe’ (in their opinion; artist quote). A2 ‘Unter den Helmen’ is ripping off the same organ’s preset drum patterns run through a brutal EQ. Talking of the 70s – a duet by two anti-nuclear activists from the German Sponti movement of the time became the theme of this politically charged protest song! Oh yeah, somewhere I had to paste the striking fact that all is mastered & sent via reel-to-reel at our TailOut studio. Check!
B1 and B2 are two versions of the same song who share their lyrics drawn from school days. To be precise from the tacky Dresden art academy they both – Sneaker and Credit 00 – visited. The B2 of ‘Art Academy Talk’ features the typical Sneaker vocals on a 4/4 beat, while – due to Credit 00′s lean towards electro – the B1 got the vocoder treatment while Jacob and Sneaker went for lunch. As Jacob came up with the bass riff on his Chroma Polaris, Credit fiddled the knobs of his Ensoniq ESQ1 like a rusty raver. The freaked out FX-sounds we can cherish thanks to the Pearl DRX drum machine; modded and played by Jacob Korn. Due to the odd look also fondly nick-named ‘the VCR’. The Pearl, of course, not Jacob.
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