This year will be booming for new releases, and this one, in particular, has me very excited (I’m excited about all new music, but this…).
First, about Automat:
Automat are guitarist Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Haut, amongst others), drummer Achim Färber (Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub, Skip McDonald amongst others) and bassist Georg Zeitblom (known for his solo work and his collaborations with Fred Frith, John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, J.G. Thirlwell, Pyrolater, as well as others). Since 2014, the trio has released the three studio albums »Automat,« »Plusminus« and »Ostwest« and collaborated with several central figures from the world of experimental music, amongst them Genesis P. Orridge, Schneider TM and Max Loderbauer. For their album »Modul,« released in 2019 through Compost Records, they have again worked together with Loderbauer and invited Paul St. Hilaire aka Tikiman, Lydia Lunch and Mika Bajinski to contribute vocals for the record.
I don’t think you could have a much more stunning introduction than this. The three of these musicians have so much history in improvisational, post-Industrial music, dub and Darkwave that a book might barely be enough to document.
The beauty of this record is the deep, dark, yet thoroughly relaxed groove. This is crisp, precise, focused groove, not the sort of thing one would find in Lee “Scratch” Perry’s wilder moments. Think more along the lines of Adrian Sherwood. The vocals are nearly magical, hazy, and you still manage not to get too lost in the moment.
Compost Records is known for putting out records that are consistently as close to perfect as you can get. They can be very proud of adding this one to the canon.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 