A couple of years ago, The Wire has a list (they love them) of “100 Records that set the world on fire (when no one was listening)” and the double Monoton LP (Monotonprodukt 07 [20y++]) from 1982 was one of them. I remember that LP with it’s striking minimal cover well from my early days, browsing through the weirdo section of the local record store, but never having the cash to buy it. In the words of The Wire this record “is so alive with the pulses that triggered many Electronicas to come, from Techno through Trance to Mego’s creeping music” and with it’s monotone sequencers, synths and alien voices (plus the sparse use of violin, saxophone and even steeldrum), this is indeed a more than welcome re-issue. The re-issue from 2002 is not at discuss here, but we do mention that another pressing has become available (thank god), but today we have ‘Blau’ [Monotonprodukt 02 [Blau — 26y++]] (meaning ‘blue’) a record from 1980 that is now released, along with three unreleased tracks from the archive. The tracks here see a continuation of Monotonprodukt 07 [20y++], even when it predates that record. The rhythms are slow, much slower than any early techno this is said to influence, feeding through a simple delay and somewhere in the background there is a minimal throb of the sequencer, or scratch on the violin. ‘Blau’ is an even more raw diamond than Monotonprodukt 07 [20y++], with more minimalism in the tracks. Usually a simple, single idea per track, which is worked over it’s course. My favorite pieces are those that are based on a sequencer rather than a rhythm machine, reminding me of the urgency of Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft or Liaison Dangereux, but in a less pop related way, and more in classical minimal music manner. Both Monoton records bridge gaps between pop and classical music, and as such they were indeed way ahead of their time, whereas today they still sound as fresh as then.