Ninetynine
After 1996's drum & bass-inflectedSolutions for a Small Planetand Daniel Myer's ambient-electronica side projectsCleenandNewt, it was plain to see in which direction Haujobb were moving. Listening toNinetyninemight jar fans of the band's older, industrial-dance material, but even if you resent the change, you can't help admiring Haujobb's skill in pulling it off. Minimalist, atmospheric electro is the underlying aesthetic here, but Myer and partner Dejan Samardzic have created a varied and engaging disc with the power to both please and perplex. Guest vocalist Vanessa Briggs brings a moody trip-hop feel to "Overflow," "Less," and "X-Flow"; "Cutedge" marries a stop-start groove to stringlike synths and burbly static; and "Ninetynine" explodes halfway through with a jazzy, percussive,Photek-like force. There's even a 13-minute-long "hidden" track of disjointed samples and drum patterns, as though Haujobb were letting you behind the curtain and into their strange museum of sound. A triumph in '99 or any other year.--Steve Landau