Gimmik: “Crak” (Slow Motion Process, Worm Interface 2001)

I find if I’m in a rut brainstorming or getting moving on a design project that the golden years of melodic IDM (1997-2002 or so, in my humble opinion) help kickstart my brain. Maybe it’s all those nights I spent toiling away in college to this music, but something just clicks. Gimmik was part of the wave of IDM acts to follow Autechre’s Tri Repeatae and Chiastic Slide (fitting, given I just posted a review of their latest, Exai) and executed that blend of crunchy, skittering beats and minor chords particularly well.