Berlin’s healthiest, acronymical ‘laptop ‘n’ drums’ duo, Morten J. Olsen (NO) + Ruben Patiño (ES), take the party to Diagonal with a debut double album continuing the label’s shift towards long players in 2016.
N.M.O. don’t sit easily in any category and neither does their dual-titled opus Nordic Mediterranean Organization / Numerous Miscommunications Occur. It may prompt aesthetic alliteration with current Portuguese dance music, NYC no wave, or early Belgian techno, but it’s best understood as a disciplined practice and process unto itself: As Strict As Possible.

As radical re-invigorators of the “live” set, N.M.O.’s kinky calisthenics present the laptop and drums as exercise tools for militantric, pneu beta rave drills that expound the virtues of avant-rock and techno fundamentals with a sense of spectacle and wit that make most other live shows look lazy. By stripping away the smoke and mirrors of electronic dance music — periodically running away from the laptop and presenting almost unfeasibly tight percussive patterns in situ — the duo demystify the romantic notion of aerobic mysticism whilst leaving something new and wysiwyg-d-out in its place. They use a combination of physical exercise and precise psychoacoustic f**kery to replace illusion and pretence.

Their debut 2LP tips the scales at 13 tracks, including five sweat-busting, stentorian set pieces, four succinct German Trained Unit drills and four locked grooves [or Neoliberal Madness Offerings #1-4], all sequenced to oscillate your heart rate.
We advise you to file these workout routines and dancefloor rituals somewhere between your jock strap and the hard drive, along with favourite Nike boings and a cocktail of whey, macha and Modafinil.