Datashock: Lose Yourself in the Beat

Title: Krauter der Provinz

Label: Bureau B

A krautrock-style group or artist’s ‘collective’ (now, tell me, what’s more krautrock than your common or garden ‘collective’, eh? A classic musical collection if ever there was one). The group like a little bit of improv on the side apparently and this nine track album certainly gives you that flavour. Instrumental in approach the band also take classic krautrock musical structure. That is, there’s plenty of experimental rock in here. Musical structures change and morph at will, rhythmic sequences transform before your eyes, musical tones jump from basic rock to more Eastern influences while the band are not afraid to drop the beat entirely and move onto more ambient soundscape-infused psychedelia when the mood finds them. That said, when the beat is switched back on from the mains then the motorik element of the percussion is present. Driving and pushing the music forward while providing a firm foundation as the track pushes on.

There are some magnificent, not to say mystical and even spiritually pagan moments in this album. Take Im Zuchtstall der Existenzhengste, a track that sometimes sounds like the soundtrack to the Rise of the Roman Empire, which begins in an ambient fashion and then slowly increases in intensity, picking up a motorik beat and then building, ever building towards spiritual chords and universe-stretching, meditative and karmic enlightenment with cymbals attached. That’s right, you can be enlightened by track three. Which makes the rest of the album a bit of a breeze, I suppose. 

Mastering is admirably neutral with slight compression around the upper mids but nothing aggressive and certainly nothing to make to cover your ears. This is a relatively balanced production. 

An album of shadings, it’s also a project to lose your self in. Be careful, though, you might never come back.

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