“Acoustic techno?” It may sound like a strange concept, but this Berlin-based trio realise it beautifully. Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer, and Paul Frick marry house music and orchestral leanings to the point where it seems perfectly natural. And despite how the finished product may feel smooth, eerily repetitious, and all too danceable – there are very few electronic elements.
Rather, instruments range from the expected drums, bass guitar, and analogue synths to prepared piano, string instruments, and assorted percussion. When the trio plays live, its as an expanded ensemble featuring harp, cello, violin, trombone, tuba, Moog, piano, and several percussionists. On You Make Me Real, meanwhile, their compositions are calculated and airtight yet warmly human. Melodies loll and loop over anxious rhythms on tracks like “Paparazzi”, finding sinister phrasing in otherwise innocuous passages. At times it feels like a live remix of an orchestral score, a daring feat by some hotshot DJ.
Still, there’s nothing splashy about this record. If anything, it’s subdued and immaculate. When a Moog suddenly begins to vamp across “Mi Corazon”, its a glaring addition to the stark, pulsing palette. Then again, that track changes so much over the course of its eight-plus minutes that it’s just the first of many surprises. And “Heart of Stone” is sneakily funky, while the title track opens with jazz-inflected drumming flirting with a moody melodic presence. The closing ‘Teufelsleiter’ is especially light on its feel, even as the single ‘Bop’ quite gradually trots out everything this trio can do.
Fantastic stuff.
Doug Wallen
