After several releases on the Payola label in Germany, The
Kammerflimmer Kollektief, which translates to "The Shimmering
Collective," has found labels in the United States
to distribute their work here. First up is the group's
debut album, Mäander, which, in a way, seems to bridge the
gap between minimal techno, such as Pole and Pan sonic, and
minimal rock, like Labradford. Guitar and keyboard play sparse
and delicate compositions only to be rained down upon by gamma
rays of noise and beats, creating an atmosphere that can be
simultaneously glorious and dissettling.
Mäander is the Kollektief's first full length, compiling
recordings from 1996 to 1999. During that time, though,
the Kollektief was not much of a Kollektief at all; it was
just group founder Thomas Weber writing, recording, and playing
all the music himself. Some of these songs suffer from being the
work of a one man band. "Lunger" is pure minimal techno,
a lifeless beat and sampled-sound pairing that goes on for
way too long. "Implodiert" is a huge, simple swell of noise
and drums while other instruments almost inaudibly play
something mildly attractive in the background. "Mond?" also
lets the drums take over the track, even though the guitar
is playing a simple but pleasing progression against
whimpering, fluctuating tones.
When the drums and noise work with the instruments, the music
can be very, very nice. "Horn" is a beautiful track that settles
into a very post-rock combination of a bass groove and frantic
but precise drumwork as a two-note keyboard melody steps in to fill up
the rest of the space. As the song progresses, it begins to
break apart into something more like free jazz as the drummer breaks
out of his precise beat and a skronky sax cries out. "Konstant"
also uses sax quite well as piano, keyboard, and drums create a
paper thin layer of beats and subtle melody as the sax and a
noise field take turns interrupting the song. The sax is again
free and improvised, but it creates soft tones and a nice progression.
"Gras" is another soft and subtle track that uses strings to create
gentle, sweeping melodies against sparse bass and another prominent
beat. Noise once again interrupts the track, but the musicians
keep going, unimpeded, as another keyboard melody enters to close out the
track.
While there are several impressive songs on this album, overall
it feels slightly soulless as Weber lets the noise dominate too many of
the tracks, making the music behind the noise seem--at times--inconsequential.
Drums pound, electronics explode, and all the melody is relegated
to the background, causing the listener to strain to hear anything
underneath the crusty, textured surface.
Looking at Temporary
Residence's website, I sort of feel validated in not loving
this album, as it says "Weber expanded the group to a live six
piece in 1999 and has been brilliant and busy ever since."
I'll take that as
a Freudian slip, implying the upcoming albums, 2000's
Incommunicado and 2001's Hysteria (both to be issued in the
United States later this year), are where the real magic
happens. Mäander may be for completists only.
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