Burger/Ink: [las vegas]

Techno may have been born in the U.S. and then adopted by the English, but a lot of electronic dance music has roots in Germany. Kraftwerk in many ways remains the Teutonic techno template: Cold yet playful, funky yet clunky, the whole man-machine concept continues to inspire technology-minded bands around the world. Notably, the music Kraftwerk created is still evolving, absorbing new elements like a chain letter. Groups like Mouse On Mars and Tortoise, for example, have about as many differences as they have things in common, and though myriad DJs, programmers, and composers share familiar traits, it's hard to find two electronic acts that sound exactly alike. Burger/Ink hails from Cologne, and though the duo doesn't add many new ideas to the nearly inaccessible glut of electronic music, Joerg Burger and Wolfgang Voigt (a.k.a. Mike Ink) have created a nifty chill-out record. As if to answer the steady stream of hectic drum-and-bass flowing throughout Europe, [las vegas] is a decidedly laid-back affair, with gently propulsive beats and minimal melodies gliding in and out of the mix. Curiously, about half of these songs have Roxy Music references in their titles, but the music bears no relationship to that most radical of glam bands. Furthermore, Burger's guitar work is all but undetectable, adding to the subtle mystique of the project. This is ambient techno so sublime that you might not remember having listened to it when the disc is done, even as you press play again.