Roland Kayn - Tektra (1984), 8/10

Tektra has a mind of its own. Roland Kayn’s creation is quite literally a piece of music that has its own intrinsic dialogue and interplay, presenting a technological achievement that is far more enjoyable and moving than it has any right to be. The sounds and their intent can, rationally and understandably, be difficult to grasp at times but this obscuration is partly what makes the music so interesting and eventually satisfying. Layers and loops are melted together and complement one another to provide a genuinely surprising result, especially in moments like the swells in “Tarego I” that feel genuinely otherworldly yet somehow simultaneously grounded. These massive yet architecturally formative moments feel impactful to the extent that they completely change and reform the perception of following passages and their sounds, creating a uniquely entrancing combination of moments that blend just as fluidly as the music itself, a particular kind of complementary experience that is very specific and genuinely unique. If things could be simplified, it would be helpful enough to say there is a general shift between moments of deeply impactful sound or infatuating beauty, but when these phenomena combine, they create the best moments the music has to offer. One example of this being the entirety of “Amarun II (Part 1)” and passages of “Khyra (Part 1)”. Rather than compromising or submitting to control, Tektra continues to evolve through incremental change, similar to genomics, forming an ocean of music that has its own intrinsic ecosystem of sound, unhindered by typical constraints. The resulting music and its continually expanding set of layers beg anticipation despite an identifiable array of feelings. The huge amount of unique creation despite a consistent unifying, underlying message of sound is impressive, even more so through acknowledging the forward thinking behind the project.