VOLUME THREE

Kosmischer Läufer is a new twist on the retro concept - pretending to come from the past while mimicking a pioneering musical style. The three albums released by this artist are (actually superb) recreations of the early 1970's music of Neu!, Kraftwerk and Cluster. For myself, there just wasn't enough of the 'motorik' genre produced historically, so I applaud this impressive hoax.

The story on the band's website is that the music was created by 'Martin Zeichnete', an East German contemporary of the above bands, who produced it for the secret Olympic training programme of the DDR. The tapes were eventually recovered and released by the vendor company, Unknown Capability Recordings.

The high production quality of these recordings makes a DDR origin implausible for anyone who made even the briefest visit to that state. (I can claim, at least, to have ridden in a Wartburg vehicle.) And the regular album release programme, with musical development from one album to another, tells you this is a modern artist.

But never mind that, this music is very pleasant and creative. Volume Two is my favourite of the releases so far, but all are genuinely recommended to motorik fans.

Verdict: zum Spass.