You
Time Code
- Record Label
- Bureau B
About this item
As synthesizers grew more popular from the mid-70s onwards, an increasing number of groups swapped the classic instruments of a rock band for sequencers and synthesizers. Pioneers (and paragons) of this electronically created music included of course Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Manuel Göttsching et al, who represent the 'Berliner Schule' (in contrast to the Düsseldorfer Schule which developed around Kraftwerk and Co.) A hitherto less celebrated, yet outstanding exponent of the Berliner Schule was the Krefeld combo You (Udo Hanten, Albin Meskes). Their debut album “Electric Day” immediately launched You into the elite echelon of Germany’s electronic music scene. It would take four years for them to deliver the sophomore LP, entitled “Time Code”. If “Electric Day” was characterized by Harald Großkopf’s pulsating drums and Uli Weber’s solo guitar, “Time Code" emerged as an altogether more electronic affair, with both Großkopf and Weber having left the project. Reduced to a duo, You largely remained faithful to their style, but expanded upon it. “Time Code” displays more range and variation than its predecessor “Electric Day”. Down-tempo and faster numbers alternate and sugar sweet melodies are followed by expanses of ominously dark or crystal clear synthesizers. Hanten and Meskes’ new sound was further refined by the use of drum computers and the omission of guitar.
The album perfectly illustrates the transition of electronic music from the 1970s to the 1980s. Sequencer patterns owe much to the legacy of the Berlin School (Berliner Schule), whilst the synthesizer and drum computer sounds heralded the advent of the new decade. The level of interest and excitement was particularly high in Italy, where songs from the album featured heavily on radio. Listeners were clearly impressed by “Live Line”, which has resurfaced in various techno productions over the past twenty years, either as a cover (by Diolac Duvai, for example), or as “Elektro Message” (by Gigi D’Agostino).