March 5, 2008

The Devil, Me, and the Notwist

For a few years now I’ve been wondering what German ambient-indie band The Notwist have been up to. They used to have the world’s most confusing website, a secretive map that left me feeling like I was trying to solve the Cold War with hover-and-click technology. I always failed.

Now their site has been updated to screen a new video of them in the studio — and there’s a new song to go along with it! A mixmaster friend first introduced me to the far-ranging sounds of the Notwist with a tune of hip-shaking easygoing electronica from 2002′s Neon Golden. It sounds as if their new album (The Devil, You + Me) may be moving towards a more direct melodic sound in the way they approach, with a touch less ephemeral ambience. It’s good stuff.

Frontman Markus Acher (one of two brothers in the band) repeats here over a slowly building crest; “Let’s just imitate the real until we find a better one — remember the good lies win.”

Good Lies – The Notwist

And two tracks I really like from Neon Golden:

Consequence – The Notwist
One With The Freaks – The Notwist

Look for their new release in June on Domino Records if you’re in the States. European folks get it sooner (City Slang in Europe in late May) and a bunch of European tour dates as well.

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2 Comments

  • Wow! Had never heard of these guys til today. Am LOVING ‘Consequences’. ‘You’re the colour,you’re the movement and the spin’. Beautiful! Thanks for the heads up.

    Agnes — March 6, 2008 @ 12:58 am

  • If you’re wondering what they’ve been up to between Neon Golden and now, the answer is side projects. They released an album with spoken-word/rapper Dose One under the moniker 13 & God in 2005, and supposedly have another released slated for this year. Another band with some Notwist members is Lali Puna, who released their 3rd album, Faking The Books, in 2004.

    Anonymous — April 2, 2008 @ 10:01 pm

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Bio Pic Name: Heather Browne
Location: Colorado, originally by way of California
Giving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
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—Hunter S. Thompson

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