CD – Denovali

With Engtanz Depression Stephan Otten and Oliver Klemm can now boast of six releases with Denovali under the moniker Sankt Otten. Their collaboration with the German label began in 2009 with Morgen Wieder Lustig, a project that was a harbinger of a long and steady partnership steeped in kraut/space rock sequences, ambient soundscapes and dark, abstract moods that remained musical and somehow playful. It is no coincidence that the latest proposal feels like a natural progression from the material patiently accumulated in their previous trilogy (Gottes Synthesizer, Sequencer Liebe, Messias Maschine), now with the addition of new drum sounds and acoustic instruments, including harmonium and piano. It all sounds very nice – the listening is very cinematic, elegiac, pleasant and covertly agée, bringing us back to the times when adventurous experimentation was seen in top-tier names like Kraftwerk, Suicide, Klaus Schulze and Robert Fripp – electronic producers that now would be considered at the boundaries of pop. Yet, the long wave of kosmische musik still retains all its avant-garde charm, particularly in this case where the ruptures are kept minimal and are well laid out, touching on parodies of eighties music but in a manner essentially consistent and unconventional. This all results in fluctuating, meditative scores that press introspectively into the mildly psychedelic. Combining ambient/dronal attitudes with repetitive structures and synthesized elements the work refers us inevitably back to the first elaborations of popular electronic music, here enhanced by a more filtered and meta-narrative conceptualization.

 

Sankt Otten – Ich Bau Dir Ein Museum