Schnitzler & Thomasius - Clock Face FLAC

If you are interested in Electronic music, and favour a music (mostly) without strict tempo or form, then this is a must on your shopping list - there's more sonic confectionary in this disc than you'll find in a dozen others. The two seasoned composers who put this journey through Cyber - Madness were, around the time this hit the shops, members of TONART, and the musical approach and sound palate is therefore not dissimilar. But listening to it here I feel that whatever agenda they were working to was far less rigid and restrictive. You have a collection of pieces which range from total abstractions to formed, Experimental Jazz type pieces. And the gap between is thoroughly explored. It's a busy, complex journey which can be by turns amusingly quirky, darkly sinister, or just plain crazy. Their soundscapes have an almost scored, film soundtrack feel, although any film which would use such 'way out' music as this would surely be extreme Arthouse. What sounds like the sweaty perv guy created by MAX GOLDT even shows up on "Für Ilse", which is an overwhelmingly classy track on it's own!
That these guys commit their personal experiments (and that, surely, must be what these are) to a recorded medium is every sound enthusiast's gain. You somehow feel that this is pure creation - not driven by thoughts of record sales or any pretentions towards 'fame' - these guys clearly love whole-heartedly what they do, and you have to go to them to appreciate what they do. Accept it, enjoy it or just go listen to any number of uninspired Goth bands, or National Radio Bland - you're not welcome here! Give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of samplers, and a copy of this, and the infinity they'd take to explore the various tonal combinations would be far too short! This to me is Electronic Music at it's best, and belligerently lacking in conformity. Probably their best, most intriguing release to date.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.