British Krautrock may be an oxymoron but it is the most concise way to describe this London-based three-piece which formed in 2007.
Motorik, the German for motor skills, is the relentless 4/4 beat that has become synonymous with Krautrock for its emphasis on mobility, freedom, and electronics.
Klaus Dinger of Neu! preferred the term 'Apache beat' and taking his cue from this, John Doran, writing for The Quietus, neatly summed up the sound as "the war drum of modernity".
Kraftwerk did most to popularise this sound and it's safe to say that Neil Rudd (guitar, electronics), the founder member of Eat Lights Become Lights (ELBL), is a fan.
Rudd was formerly with the instrumental rock band Kontakte whose Soundtracks To Lost Road Movies even has a track entitled Motorik.
The Autobahn factor was evident in ELBL's first album in 2011 which was called Autopia and featured track titles like Test Drive and Musik For Motorways.
For the follow up, Heavy Electrics, one year later, the Kosmische dimensions were still in place , typified by the driving beat of La Kraut III , although Sunrise At Marwar Junction also suggested that there was life beyond motorways.
What the band's promoters call the "ever-evolving synthetic landscape" has now reached album number three recorded in London and Los Angeles.
From the first notes of Modular Living, the opening and title track, it is evident that the motor skills are still at the heart of their sound.
It would very easy to slip into cruise control and keep this hypnotic rhythm going for another hour or so. This might be good as a soundtrack for a long drive but as a head-trip, the limitations are obvious.
Fortunately, Rudd seems aware of the risk of falling into this trap. The synthy beats of the second track Mod-Ulo-510 already shift things down to a lower gear.
|
13th Looking South... picks things up again for another six and half minutes but the rest of the album transports the listener into different sonic territory.
The chilled ambience of Rowley Way Overlook evokes a pastoral calm although presumably takes its title from the inner city residential buildings on NW London's Alexandra and Ainsworth council estate.
This juxtaposition perhaps connects with the cover image - a hollow, oblong, concrete mould incongruously placed in a forest.
Los Feliz to Griffith is a beautifully flowing piece which, if you want to continue with the links to Krautrock, connects with the atmospheric space rock of Ash Ra Temple or Popol Vuh.
The calm, yet shifting, moods of Life In A Sprawl suggests something formless and evolving rather than fixed and permanent.
The synthetic pulses of Chiba Prefecture and Electromagnetika retain the Teutonic aspects combined with more frenetic Japanese-style beats.
This beautifully sequenced album ends with the synthesised orchestra of Habitat '67.
This is a record that invites the listener to follow it through from start to finish; a musical journey that will take you from fast moving highways before switching to more scenic routes which are never too far from the buzzing energy of the metropolis.
Eat Lights Become Lights' blogspot
|
