REVIEW: Kreidler, Appearance and The Park (Mute)
- David Landgren
From Tangerine Dream to Kraftwerk and Connie Plank to Blixa Bargeld, there has never been a shortage in Germany of musicians, offering the world a rich source of innovation and experimentation in music. Kriedler, a four piece band formed in Dusseldorf in 1994, are the latest incarnation of this ongoing exploration. The album is, with the exception of one track ("Coldness"), entirely instrumental. It is constructed with an extraordinary rigour and attention to detail, yet never falls into the trap of being too arty or pretentious.
The overall feeling is one of understatement. Everything is held under control and yet at the same time, and this is where the group deserves credit, there is never a feeling of constraint. Like a Japanese garden, everything is in its rightful place. A single clash of cymbal to punctuate a song.
Then there is the absence of samples: there are no voices or animals, or anything from the real world: the synthesisers emit purely... synthetic sounds. But then, as a counterpoint, a real bass guitar and a real drum-kit add a human vibrancy. With this, you never lose sight of the fact that you are listening to a group of musicians playing together.
The album starts out with "Tuesday", a shuffling burble of bleeps, like a demented dolphin caught in an oscilloscope. And then the song begins to take shape, soft warblings from a synthesiser, a subtle drum & cymbal backing, bass guitar picking out a simple melody. Nothing dramatic, but curiously effective; a definite case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
While this may sound a bit boring (like, what does that leave behind?) it does also lead to some amazing pieces of work, such as the unconditionally brilliant "Au-Pair", that starts out in the middle of nowhere, soars to glorious heights (check out the bassline), and comes down to land with effortless grace.
A common affliction that strikes much electronica is the layering approach, whereby a song is built up by adding layer upon layer of instruments, loops and other oddments until the song reaches its full crescendo. The problem is, of course, how to end the juggernaut from rolling ever onward. "Au-Pair" deals with this in an extraordinarily successful way, and I find myself repeating the song over and over again, seeking clues as to how they do it, and why it works so well.
It comes as a bit of a shock, when on the tenth track "Coldness", vocals make an unexpected appearance. But yeah, it more or less works. The problem is that they make a timid appearance in the middle of the song, as if courage was lacking to break the silence.
Over the album, rare are the lapses into sonic mayhem as happens with, say, The Orb. Yet just when one starts to wish things were a little more... chaotic, they loosen the reins on the machines for "Venetian Blind" and segue into the shimmering, mesmerising "Cube". The latter song is built on a most outrageous electronic loop, a pummelling shoop-shoop-shoop of a virtual reality helicopter. People familiar with Ciccone Youth's Whitey Album will see a parallel. Placed at the end of the album, the impact of these two tracks is all the more dramatic. I hope they continue in this direction in the future.
The album closes with a remix of "Coldness", playing up on the eighties neu-wave sound. It's probably a better version. The vocals are bolder, more affirmed, and the singer really sings this time.
All in all, an album that is immediately listenable on the first hearing, and reveals more details upon repeated listening. Not as bizarre or pompous as Tangerine Dream, and not as unabashedly pop as Kraftwerk can be, Kreidler walk somewhere in between. I'd say that on the strength of this album I'll be buying their next one with my eyes closed. It's a sure bet.
