It’s a bit of a mish-mash, I suppose, but eight-albums in and the boundary pushing, ivory tickling, circuit blowing, kraut rocking Berlin-US trio continue to churn out static-charged instrumentals that whilst boring the shit out of the traditional X-factor demographic make the beard-stroking beat purists positively wet with appreciation. It’s occasionally a little flat, but there’s enough bubbling beneath the surface to make even most generic of riffs (‘Forwardness’) sound sophisticated. If you’ve come across the likes of Four Tet, Minotaur Shock or Tunng you have an inkling of what to expect: soft-focus electronica with a bass-guitar. And box-loads of effects. It’s not the most complex proposition in the world, but somehow it works.
Recorded part live and impromptu at Faust’s studio in Scheer, southern Germany, ‘Speculation’ is another pared-down, stripped-back, budget-conscious product of the ongoing recession. The intricate layering of the band’s benchmark 90s albums ‘Veiculo’ and ‘The Amateur View’ have given way to a more isolated and estranged series of tunes. It’s an album characterised by a whir of gentle whispers and the light pulse of droning analogues. Tunes like ‘Place It’ and ‘Ship’ have all the clammy mysticism of an old Doors record but without any of the dreadful poetry.
More of a bathing experience than a listening experience, for some, but healing nevertheless. You have speculate to accumulate.