Komputer Market Led CD |
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London-based electronic twosome Komputer discover the magic of simplicity on their latest release. "Market Led" is a total breakaway from its predecessor "World Of Tomorrow", as their current attitude favours an experimental approach instead of pop song standards. Komputer is spelled with a "K", because Komputer's music is a nostalgic tribute to German electro-pioneers Kraftwerk, some critics were eager to point out when reviewing "World Of Tomorrow" some five years ago. Indeed, this very record showed a stunning resemblance to Kraftwerk's early electro pop, and it proved to be a somewhat odd mixture of 1960ies'-style aesthetics and naive poetry ("nous sommes le pop band parfait..."). Now, "World Of Tomorrow" hadn't been the first musical effort for Simon Leonard and David Baker, aka Komputer: They've been around the electronic music scene for many years in one way or another, most notably with their early project Fortran 5. Looking at their curriculum vitae, it's not very surprising they were heading for a new challenge this time, moving forward rather than getting stuck in the slough of despond. The music on "Market Led" is not danceable electronic stuff. It's a very downsized, stripped-bare effort, mainly based on primitive sequencer grooves and samples. Maybe this is the perfect example for "Trash" music as Simon and David prefer to record samples during their day job as stall assemblers at one of the numerous multi- ethnic street markets in East London (for Komputer-spotters: presumably, it's Brick Lane Market). A lot of the samples were recorded when the stalls are broken down and all that remains is a huge pile of human waste - most prominently featured on track 4, "Kompaktor". Music-wise, "Market-Led" is definitely a surprise. This time, Komputer show a very child-like fascination for sonic experiments, they lack however the grandesse of masterminds like Autechre. "Market Led" is dedicated to simplicity, and even the cover artwork underlines this approach. Label: Mute (rh) |
Komputer present: the sound of trash! |
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