The Field – Looping State of Mind (2011) [Kompakt] // Grade: B

I’m a sucker for anything on Kompakt. One of these days I need to take a red-eye to Cologne and attend one of their parties to truly get the full experience. Few labels in the world are as consistent as Kompakt when it comes to releasing quality, warm, dream-like pop and techno, and no one does it quite like they do. So when I heard Axel Willner — better known as The Field — had a new album out, I had to jump on it immediately.

When Willner decided to call the album Looping State of Mind, he was not kidding. This really is an ambient album disguised and packaged as a techno album. Rather than hearing this album in a club, I would much rather hear this on a moving walkway in the Frankurt airport at night with no one else around. Though the style of songs on Looping State of Mind are reminiscent of original krautrock and shoegaze groups, the mechanical, repetitive and airy nature of each track makes it feel modern. The tracks are of epic lengths — no song is shorter than 8 minutes, some are even 10 — and none of them crescendo like other spacey acts like Godspeed You Black Emperor or Explosions In The Sky. Instead, the drones, especially in headphones, clear your head and give you an endless floating feeling.

My personal favorite on Looping State of Mind is “Burned Out.” Of all the loops that were extended until near exhaustion on the album, this feels the most lush, warm and trance inducing for me. It’s a feeling I would like to revisit, like biking aimlessly around Copenhagen, or taking a disco nap on the monorail in Detroit. “Then It’s White,” another stand out track on the album, sounds like a lost song on Sigur Ros’ album ( ). Its melancholy piano, dragging snares and haunting vocal loop remind me of Fall in every East Coast city I’ve lived in, so this is perfect timing.

The songs on Looping State of Mind aren’t chaotic psychedelic jams, pummeling techno rollers, krautrock tunes with crescendos or beach resort Balearic anthems. It’s closer to Brian Eno’s serene scenes in Music For Airports than anything else. If you somehow traveled solely by a motorized massage chair, you would listen to this album indefinitely with noise cancellation headphones while wearing 3d glasses. That said, wanting to feel this way is rare. Listening to Looping State of Mind should be reserved for a special occasion. If you’re depressed, Looping State of Mind will not make you snap out of it, rather it will make you want to close all the blinds and watch QVC on mute. If you want to embrace seasonal depression, this is the album for you. I don’t mean that in a bad way either, sometimes I do want to simply zone out to tones and drones myself. Just know what you’re getting into when putting this on, and it’ll be a pleasant, long escalator ride.

- Rx