We're completely blown away by Raster Noton at the moment. There used to be a time, back in the mid-late 90's, when we had a total obsession with the work of Uwe Schmidt, aka Atom Heart, aka Atom Tm.His seemingly endless series of albums for his own 'Rather Interesting' label not only displayed a visionaryability to harness technology into an ever-changing series of pseudonyms and personalities, but alsosomehow managed to do so with the kind of attention to detail and brilliance that would soon make him atrue musician's musician - a real connoisseur's choice. His work ranged from the uncompromisingminiature machinations of Dos Tracks to the curious romance of Erik Satin, the spacious electroid geniusof 'Brown' and the reduced machine funk of 'Schnittstelle' and 'Dropshadow Disease'. Then came anotherlandmark album -"Pop Artificielle", recorded under the 'Lassigue Bendthaus' moniker and featuring acollection of mindblowing cover versions delivered via speech synthesis using a process that could onlyhave been deeply laborious but which to this day remains one of the most impressive alternate takes onpop music we know. Schmidt would soon become a victim of his own genius, however, giving the worldthe tiresome Ser Coconut project which would fast send him to pretty much every music festival andbad novelty compilation going - and, despite the odd flash of brilliance here and there, we just slowly andalmost completely lost interest. Raster have long been used to bringing the best work out of theirimpressive family of artists, but this unexpected new Atom Tm album not only represents a landmarkrelease for the label but also just happens to be Schmidt's first truly important release in a decade - and bysome distance the finest thing he has released since 1999's acclaimed DOS Tracks. 'Liedgut' is builtaround some familiar Atom signatures, ranging from the incredible pop intricacy of"Wellen Und Felder"(like a more advanced, textural, alien take on"Pop Artificielle"), to the hardware funk of"Im Rausch DerGegenwart I" (constructed around the sound of mobile phone interference and reminiscent of the first andbest Flanger 12"). But there's a whole new over-arching aesthetic to this material, the album itself openingwith a couple of incredible drone/early-electronic stye pieces that just ooze a warmth and deep musicalunderstanding, while tracks like 'Weisses Rauschen" sound like Raymond Scott's"Soothing Sounds forBaby" taken a step further into a weird and wonderful world of music out of time. The most significant thingabout 'Liedgut' is that Schmidt seems to have recovered his confidence to create uncompromising musicthat takes its time, foregoing the frenzied digital editing that typified so much of his work back at the start ofthe decade, and in its place painting a new picture full of contrasts and, sometimes, utterly breathtakingbeauty. If you're an old time follower of Uwe Scmidt's work you'll desperately need this album in your life, ifyou've yet to discover any of it - now really is the time to get acquainted. A truly exceptional album housedin some of the nicest packaging from Raster in some time (which is really saying something!) - a massiverecommendation and a truly essential purchase.