Well you learn something new every day, usually by listening to the latest release from Bureau B as it happens. This is a soundtrack for the documentary of the same name about a rocket launching site built in the Congolese jungle by Germans in the early 70's which was news to me.
The soundtrack consists of 17 tracks and is a mixture of Bureau B regulars on the one hand and pieces by film composer Heiko Maile on the other. Three tracks from the later are CD/DL only bonus tracks. Solyst set the scene nicely with "Atomium (Edit)" with dabs of African sounding percussion and perhaps hints of the chaos and intrigue surrounding the actual event.
Camera (new album due in November) come next with "Skylla" which has burbling synth over the top of a steady rhythm that seemingly builds towards launch time. The Maile tracks would appear to have been created specifically for the film and reference the Congo with site specific titles (Plateau Kapani Tono) whereas the other tracks have perhaps been selected from pre-existing work because they fit with the concept in some way.
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"Plateau Kapani Tono" in turn references "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock and then heads off in its own direction. Die Wilde Jagd supply "Austerlitz" from their 2015 eponymous release. Moebius Neumeier Engler goes tribal on "De Nama (Edit)" and Conrad Schnitzler delivers the vaguely acidic "03_1980 (Edit)". The Maile bonus tracks are all good, including the wonderfully titled "Smoking Apes".
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