OK, so I know I'm a bit late to the party with this one. Back in 2002 (or maybe '03, I'm not sure) German band (what genre label applies to these guys? Would you call it 'indietronica'? 'electrock'? I honestly don't know. Think rock music mixed with electronic beats, anyway) burst forth from semi-obscurity, released this album to pretty much uniformly great reviews from anyone who could get their hands on it and then disappeared back into semi-obscurity again.
I remember reading various reviews back when it came out and thinking that it sounded like just the sort of album I would love. But for some reason i didn't buy it. Then The Notwist seemed forgotten about by everyone, and of course i forgot about them too.
Then the other day, while thinking of which albums I really want to hear, the name 'The Notwist' popped into my head. So, finally, a few years late, i got hold of a copy.
I was an idiot for waiting so long.
This album is brilliant. It manages to be both catchy and experimental, simple and yet somehow quite complex. Listen to Pilot, the hit single that never was, or One With The Freaks, with it's simple chorus refrain (“Have you ever /Have you ever / Been all messed up?”) and you'll be hooked. I don't know what happened to these guys while recording this album, but it seems like they were, for the first time in their over-a-decade-long career, plucking great tunes out of the air.
The original album closes with the beautiful Consequence; which builds from a rather straightforward acoustic ballad into something much more as processed strings, a piano and skittering electronic beats form what is almost a wall of sound behind Markus Acher as he sings “Leave me paralysed, love / Leave me hypnotised, love”. In many ways it is the perfect closer to a superb record.
However, this version is the US release, which has three bonus tracks tacked on to the end. The three instrumentals (Scoop, Propeller 9 and Formiga) are nice enough and not unpleasant, but they don't really add anything to the album. Personally I prefer to listen to it without these three tracks and have the album end on Consequence, as was intended. However the bonus tracks are worth a listen and don't drag the album's quality down much.
So if like me you missed out on this album first time around, or if you've never heard of the band at all, don't waste any time in downloading this album.
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