Bureau B
There were two main reasons that I was eager to hear the latest Automat LP; firstly you cannot go wrong with Bureau B, from current albums by the likes of Faust and Camera to re-issues of important back catalogue from the likes of Conrad Schnitzler, Asmus Tietchens, Palais Schaumburg, etc, they represent the cream of German underground music; secondly was the involvement of Jochen Arbeit, latter-day member of Einstürzende Neubauten and guitar slinger for Die Haut, one of the most important bands from the Neue Deutsche Welle. With this in mind, it is notable that Automat sound nothing like either of these bands.
They are a trio consisting of Arbeit,
Färber and
Zeitblom and come very much from an atmospheric, electronic direction. This album is the third in a trilogy of airport-related albums and that in itself makes for an intriguing proposition. Clearly the band are thinkers as this album deals with a changing Europe, seeing the rise of the right wing as the influx of migrants continues from the Middle East, all within a framework of instrumental, rhythm-driven electronic music. Heavy
dub influences and body music nestle happily with motorik groove and plangent sound washes. It works really well.
Opener “Ost” mixes disorientating synth stabs with tabla percussion and muezzin vocals to great effect for a modern Eastern feel; whereas “Fabrik Der Welt” which follows uses handclap percussion and drums to evoke the harsh sound of jackboots on concrete, giving a rather totalitarian aura. The tempos and moods change as the album progresses, from the gentle slink of “Yuko” to the updated
Black Ark sound of “Tempelhof”, all space echo dub and skeletal piano notes. It sounds as though knives are being sharpened in the busiest track “Europa” and this is the most propulsive on the album, sliding into closer “Transit”. This is leaden and stumbling, augmented with tribal drums, seeming to act as an awkward antithesis to the utopian travel dream of the likes of
Kraftwerk‘s “Autobahn”, inferring that
for some folk pan-European travel is undertaken with a heavy heart and an uncertain future.
This album works really well, asking the listener to think without the opting for bombast or rhetoric, all tracks veiled in a gauze of dusty synth atmosphere,the sound of jets and hydraulics adding to the atmosphere and behind it all the sense of a cold starlit night, clear and vast. It is a satisfying listen that makes me want to seek out the previous two albums.
-Mr Olivetti-
There were two main reasons that I was eager to hear the latest Automat LP; firstly you cannot go wrong with Bureau B, from current albums by the likes of Faust and Camera to re-issues of important back catalogue from the likes of Conrad Schnitzler, Asmus Tietchens, Palais Schaumburg, etc, they represent the cream of German underground music; secondly was the involvement of Jochen Arbeit, latter-day member of Einstürzende Neubauten and guitar slinger for Die Haut, one of the most important bands from the Neue Deutsche Welle. With this in mind, it is notable that Automat sound nothing like either of these bands.
