Kreidler - s/t
(Mute)
Lately, I've been thinking about what might happen to the
Earth after the human race becomes extinct. There'll be all
these buildings lying around dormant and vacant. Sure, due
to weather, wind, and movement of the Earth, they'll
eventually crumble and decay, but that still leaves many,
many years for the planet to exist as only a gigantic
ghosttown. Of course, just because humans cannot survive,
it doesn't mean all life has ended. There will be plenty
of life left on Earth: roaches, ants, mites, amoebae, and
paramecia--they'll all still be around long after we're
gone. However, what will they do when they're finally rid
of us and they have these enormous cities all to
themselves? What will all these small but sturdy creatures
do when they're finally rid of the beings that created
things like pesticide, antibiotics, and the rubber heel
of a men's dress shoe? Chances are they'll have a totally
bitchin' party.
Kreidler's self-titled and third album is the soundtrack
to that party. Its groove is so primordial that the mind
and intellect cannot comprehend it; only the body can.
Listening to the album, you will feel your body react to
the music much earlier than your mind will come to
appreciate it. Perhaps, then, what you are feeling from
the music is not your own body's reaction but rather that
of all the mites and organisms that live on top of and
inside you. Once hearing the groove, the mites become
excited and begin to anticipate human kind's downfall,
sending their tiny bodies into fits of dancing, the
combined power of all those mites on your body in turn
moving your body as well.
Kreidler's one mistake on this album is the use of guest
vocalists (most notably Momus on "Mnemorex") on a couple tracks. With
a noticeably human element added to the music, the
instruments and groove are de-emphasized, and the mites'
rhythm is completely thrown off; it takes them several
songs to get back in motion after their momentum has been
disturbed.
With the groove now paramount, Kreidler is moving away
from their post-rock elements, closer and closer to the
sound of Neu-wave figureheads To Rococo Rot, of which
Kreidler's Stefan Schneider is also a member. The key
difference is obvious, though. Each To Rococo Rot song
is a sunrise, a burst of light to brighten the day.
Kreidler's music is for the dark and dank crevices of
the world: the underground after hours club, the
sweat-soaked bed, and the holes in the floorboard
from which the mites and bugs scurry.
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