Cicadidae is the natural outcome of Kammerflimmer Kollektief's evolution from a hybrid jazz electronic outfit to experimental improvisers and finds the band actually playing as a band with brass and string instruments, electronics, drums, and keyboards. It makes Kammerflimmer a sort of Black Dice for downtempo ambient music -- while their lush, tweaked sounds (and decidedly warm tones) are similar to both Four Tet and Manitoba, the songs on Cicadidae have a much looser rock feeling. Take "Neumond Inselhin," which starts the album off with a gentle ticking, gurgling, and chiming that turns to a genuine string melody and then a subtly buzzing cacophony. The song doesn't so much evolve from one phase to the other as it just sort of dances back and forth, like insects in the moonlight on a summer night (hence the cicadas). There's a remarkable range to the music that conjures Kammerflimmer's dreamy surrealism -- from the Múm-esque chimes of "Blood" to the clearly Western-inspired (and somewhat caustic) "...Denn Nacht Ist Jetzt Schon Bald!" (Ennio Morricone meets Steve Reich?). It's this openness and spontaneity that makes Kammerflimmer Kollektief's music so thrilling -- after all, the very next track is a Björk-ian dark pop song, followed by a spare, techno jazz groove on "Mantra." Kammerflimmer's ideas are so original that they may seem far-flung to those uninitiated with experimental music, but their delivery is so inviting and hypnotic that it makes Cicadidae unusually accessible. ~ Charles Spano
Translator: Oliver Kühne.
Arranger: Tom Weber.
Personnel: Tom Weber (guitar, piano, harmonium); Heike Wendelin (violin); Dietrich Foth (saxophone); Christopher Brunner (vibraphone, drums); Johannes Fritzch (double bass).
Liner Note Author: Dietmar Dath.
Magnet (2/04, p.100) - "The fluttering sequences, tittering cymbals, plucked cellos and noisy tangles of 'Neumond Inselhin' and the mix of unbound bass and clinking slide guitars that make up 'Uber Die Wasserscheide' form a joyful weave..."
Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Cicadidae Album Track Listing
Trk
Song
1
Neumond Inselhin
2
Sie Tranken Regen
3
Uber Die Wasserscheide
4
Blood
5
...Denn Nacht Ist Jetzt Schon Bald!
6
Sie Tranken Regen
7
Mantra
8
Eiderdaunen (Gerupft)
9
Irgendwann: Fruhling
10
There's a Weight on You, But You Can't Feel It
Cicadidae Review
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