EBERHARD KRANEMANN AND HARALD GROSSKOPF:
KRAUTWERK:
BUREAU B:
LP/CD/DD:
OUT JULY 28TH 2017:
Credentials mean everything when it comes to Germany's electronic music-scene and this eagerly-anticipated pairing measures up considerably. Eberhard Kranemann graced early Kraftwerk and Neu! sessions as a bassist in 1971 and 1972, while cohort Harald Grosskopf mixed it with Klaus Schülze and Ashra, recording a dozen or so albums with the latter.
So then, chops aside, is the humourously entitled Krautwerk actually any good? Fairly predictably, yes. Opening drone-rocker Midnight in Düsseldorf bears all the hallmarks of the duo's previous band collaborations, a moody feedback-drenched instrumental with skittering electronic patterns and an eerie sad-eyed synth hook throughout, while the playful Ou Tchi Gah intro recalls Autobahn before morphing into something newcomers Automat might crank out at a drug party.
Texas Paris showcases Kranemann's penchant for searing guitar riffage while the more upbeat Happy Blue wouldn't sound amiss on one of Aphex Twin's Soundcloud playlists. Buddhatal is essentially 12 minutes of thudding dirges and unsettling dronescapes which kinda becomes tedious after reaching the halfway point while closer Be Cool thankfully dispenses with the claustrophobic bumflufferies of its predecessor and aims for the feet a little more.
Essentially five relentless yet engaging jams with a substrata of teutonic precision and one not-so-successful osmosis, Kranemann and Grosskopf's playful take on Germanic electronica is a Krautwerk of art.
7/10
KRAUTWERK:
BUREAU B:
LP/CD/DD:
OUT JULY 28TH 2017:
So then, chops aside, is the humourously entitled Krautwerk actually any good? Fairly predictably, yes. Opening drone-rocker Midnight in Düsseldorf bears all the hallmarks of the duo's previous band collaborations, a moody feedback-drenched instrumental with skittering electronic patterns and an eerie sad-eyed synth hook throughout, while the playful Ou Tchi Gah intro recalls Autobahn before morphing into something newcomers Automat might crank out at a drug party.
Texas Paris showcases Kranemann's penchant for searing guitar riffage while the more upbeat Happy Blue wouldn't sound amiss on one of Aphex Twin's Soundcloud playlists. Buddhatal is essentially 12 minutes of thudding dirges and unsettling dronescapes which kinda becomes tedious after reaching the halfway point while closer Be Cool thankfully dispenses with the claustrophobic bumflufferies of its predecessor and aims for the feet a little more.
Essentially five relentless yet engaging jams with a substrata of teutonic precision and one not-so-successful osmosis, Kranemann and Grosskopf's playful take on Germanic electronica is a Krautwerk of art.
7/10