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Review: 'POPULARE MECHANIK'
'Kollektion 03 (Compiled By Holger Hiller)'   

-  Label: 'Bureau B'
-  Genre: 'Post-Rock' -  Release Date: '20th February 2015'

Our Rating:
Populare Mechanik was a post-punk, jazz bastard project created by Wolfgang Seidel. This collection has been curated by Holger Hiller from two cassette productions released in the early 1980’s. Apparently the release booklet features an interview with Seidel conducted by Hiller, in which they discuss the function of rock and pop over the last 45 years.

In a way it’s a shame we are talking about a re-issue here because if I did not know that I would be more than happy to describe this as a great contemporary album. Not only that, when you consider this music has come from a 4-track tape recorder (surely not!), the quality, the sound and the production are absolutely amazing.

‘Gleisdreieck’ is perfect post-rock with it’s throbbing bass line and undulating synth horns. ‘An die Hoffnung’ has a bit more of a metallic clatter about it and a female voice recites her lines in spoken word style over the top. It’s kind of a back street cabaret, one man band gone wrong. A bastard within a bastard if you will, and please excuse my language. It works incredibly well.

‘Scharfer Schnitt No. 1’ is a dub track no less and PIL would be proud. ‘Fur ein paar Deutschmark mehr’, ‘Wiedereingegliedert’, ‘Oranienbar’ (a little more junk shop double bass jazz dub than the others) and ‘Sauer im Regen’ continue in the cabaret jazz dub vein with some aplomb. It has become clear by now that a very groovy rhythm section is underpinning this band. ‘Sauer’ in particular sets the bar very high indeed. King Tubby meets Dexter Gordon in a Berlin rave club.

‘Gib dem Affen Zucker’ is a gloopy, pulsating affair and the disembodied radio style female voice and backwards guitar only add to the effect. ‘Schlag….’ is a tinkly vibraphone track and ‘Als sie ertrunken war’ adds heavily reverbed male vocals to that model and speeds things up a little. Then it collapses and stays collapsed for another two minutes. ‘Smog’ perhaps doesn’t quite take itself seriously enough and then the album finishes with ‘Fabrik’ and ‘Fabrik (Slight Return) which again are not quite the icing on the cake but very good nevertheless. Looks like the future of music came twenty years ago and we missed it. Damn.
  author: Leo Newbiggin

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POPULARE MECHANIK - Kollektion 03 (Compiled By Holger Hiller)