Arbeit Schickert Schneider:
A S S :
Bureau B:
LP/CD:
April 29th 2016:
Usher three renowned guitar-wielding Berliners into a studio and all mayhem could break loose, right? Actually no. Messrs Arbeit, Schickert and Schneider are no more threatening than a late-night wander through your average German city. However, true to form, this isn't exactly a finger-clicking party-album either. Multi-layered and brimming with a varietal of textures and atmospheres, A S S certainly isn't a pain in one.
Showcasing their experience from three decades of experimental session work and releases on labels such as Brain, Sky and Bureau B for outfits like Ziguri, Einstürzende Neubaten and Schneider TM, the three musicians embark on an odyssey of free-form electronica, downbeats and fretwork that intentionally or unintentionally encompasses Gamelan, drone-rock and musique-concrète in liberal doses.
The opening suite of tracks from 37c to 41c all merge into one lengthy homogenous mass that increments warmth much like the titles before drawing to an atonal but blissed-out conclusion. Acetyl recalls early 23 Skidoo (The Culling Is Coming for example) while Salicyl gives a few drum-machines, effects pedals and echo-chambers a relentless workout - the nearest to an recognisable melody, in fact. The crepuscular Säure brings a shimmering curtain down on what is a rather special album of treated, hammered, plucked and blended guitars played with mutual respect.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
A S S :
Bureau B:
LP/CD:
April 29th 2016:
Showcasing their experience from three decades of experimental session work and releases on labels such as Brain, Sky and Bureau B for outfits like Ziguri, Einstürzende Neubaten and Schneider TM, the three musicians embark on an odyssey of free-form electronica, downbeats and fretwork that intentionally or unintentionally encompasses Gamelan, drone-rock and musique-concrète in liberal doses.
The opening suite of tracks from 37c to 41c all merge into one lengthy homogenous mass that increments warmth much like the titles before drawing to an atonal but blissed-out conclusion. Acetyl recalls early 23 Skidoo (The Culling Is Coming for example) while Salicyl gives a few drum-machines, effects pedals and echo-chambers a relentless workout - the nearest to an recognisable melody, in fact. The crepuscular Säure brings a shimmering curtain down on what is a rather special album of treated, hammered, plucked and blended guitars played with mutual respect.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆