“to_rococo_rot”
To Rococo Rot
The Amateur View.
Mute
You think “how droll – another German electronic act that spells everything in lowercase.” You prepare yourself by setting the alarm clock before listening, as you’re in for some bleepy bloopy subtle post-melodic electronicaca. Ha.
This is not your typical lowercase German release. First of all, no song is over five minutes. Second, there’s not a single boring contemplative moment on here – To Rococo Rot engage the listener with sparkling clear turns of melody and rhythm, building interactions between disparate elements like hardcore be-boppers feed off each others’ solos. The Casio beat that begins “cars” (no relation to Numan, I’m sure) quickly segues into an appropriately rolling bass line, Seinfeld-like vocal snares and a delightfully tinkly lead. In contrast, the opening “i am in the world with you” shares a lot of the same elements, but ends up completely different, as a staggering bass line gently persuades you that indeed, all is musical and beetle-browed Germans holed up in a Hamburg studio for months on end can produce something as organic as this.
Mute Records, 140 W. 22nd Street, Suite 10A, New York, NY 10011; http://www.mutelibtech.com
