ostinato: kap arkona

ost-ka.jpg (16k) ostinato: kap arkona
(disco bruit - 2001)

While I can't decipher the Deutsch-written liner notes, the universal language of beat-driven electronic experimentationalism is clearly spoken in ostinato's perky (though artistically scruffy) sounds. kap arkona is quirky without being maddeningly so...

A quick search at distributor Dutch-East tells me, "Ostinato is the project of Christian Mevs from Hamburg, Germany, on these recordings supported by french singer Cécile Felix".

Twiddly guitar-like patterns twirl beneath the pulsating beats of opening number, ma 2. Hints of micro-clickiness occasionally seep from the decidedly percussive output of mood-changing weiss. Feminine murmers emerge from beneath the progressively-thumpier warp-and-weave of fantomes.

Aggrotonic frost is anything but chilly in its sputtering syncopation mutations. Warm, bouncy, drifty bruch offers a light sense of fun, especially when abutting the more sinister hisses of Rondo. Spastic electric guitar tweedles are soon backed by an outburst of drum'n'bass ('n' noise) accompaniment in short-running stich (1:00).

Feel die liebe's enticing bass-synth grooves twist darkly amid womanly whispers and spunky e-percussion. Uber-cool! Frenzied drumming pummels the ethereal soundsheets of schwarz. Following a prolonged pause, schneid begins to thump with a minorly demented carnival theme, sorta, which grows more powerful and more cinematic.

For those who like a serious dosage of rhythm in their Germanic electronic experiments, this will thump its way (sometimes irregularly) into your heart. An 8.5 to ostinato for strong (but not overbearing) stuff!

For more, you've got disco bruit or the official ostinato site, or both.

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This review posted December 5, 2001

AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).