Haujobb – Ninetynine

Haujobb

Ninetynine

Metropolis

In the late 90s, EBM, IDM, and DnB came to a head and German electronic duo Daniel Myer + Dejan Samardzic bridged their gaps. Under their main guise Haujobb, they managed to compose one of the most interesting electronic albums of the decade that retained signatures established by their previous groundbreaking releases.

Their work from 1993 to 1995 was styled after Vancouver post-industrial act Skinny Puppy, with distorted vocals and heavy beats dominating soundscapes of synthesizers, manipulated samples, and sci-fi movie dialogue. Now established in goth club playlists, follow-up experimental albums Solutions For a Small Planet and Ninetynine are where Haujobb’s artistic quality shone through.

Industrial scene origins

Haujobb’s etymology is a mistranslated German take on “skin job”, slang referencing androids from Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner (itself inspired by Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). These dystopia themes leaked into the band’s aesthetic of man vs. machine and man vs. environment with lyrics expressed as a spoken word stream-of-consciousness. 1996’s seminal Solutions For a Small Planet married DnB and electro with a sonic palette not previously explored. I can’t think of an EBM band that has thrown a saxophone solo into the end of a six minute song (“The Cage Complex”).

The complimenting remix album Matrix contained reinterpretations of Solutions’ tracks with a more techno bent. The mostly lyric-less retakes feature cut-up beats over atmospheric strings and pads that escalate into manic climaxes (“Antiversion”). Its follow-up Ninetynine saw the duo head into more abstract, heady compositions that differentiated them from their peers

Change in direction

With Ninetynine, Haujobb explored dark electronic music that embraced IDM and DnB whilst eliminating the faults of each genre. No amen break is to be found as the quickly-passing beats are manually programmed. Samples travel in disjointed directions that aren’t alienating. Downtempo moods are warm and playful while maintaining the balance of groove and progression. Male and female vocals are juxtaposed without any whizzing stereo effects distracting the listener while jazzy drum snippets merge seamlessly into the mix such as on title track “Ninetynine”. This is headphone-happy ambient music that initially sounds sparse but further listens reveal its complex layers.

The Ninetynine sessions were around a fruitful period for the duo that also manifested a multitude of side-projects including Dots+Dashes, N.E.W.T., Cleen, S’apex, Hexer, and Myer. If you’re looking for more choice offerings outside the main album, the Less single and Ninetynine Remixes from the same year contain songs in the style of the duo’s side-projects. This was a time of musical productivity that must have consisted exclusively of eating, sleeping, and studio time.

Haujobb during this time was an original voice without many colleagues. The closest acts I’ve found to approximating their sound have been Lassigue Bendthaus and perhaps later Gridlock. It’s a shame this album hasn’t received the wider recognition it deserves, likely due to the band being signed to record labels Accession (GER) and Metropolis (US) that focused on industrial music. If it were part of the Warp Records or Ninja Tune catalog, Ninetynine may have rightly be seen for the its true legacy as one of the greatest electronic albums released in the 1990s.