CON 3

I've heard around 25 Schnitzler albums and this is one of the few tuneful entries in his entire catalogue. The 'Neue Deutsche Welle' style which was all the rage with bands like D.A.F. is what's on offer here, and it's none the worse for it.

'Con 3' is as close as old Conrad ever reached to a mainstream audience. That's to say - he had no chance of accumulating a captive audience whatsoever. Not a snowball's chance in hell.

Luckily I'm one of those guys who loves hearing Europeans singing in their mother tongue. It's far more convincing and puts you in the alien environment of Europe in 1981 from a British point of view. In that era we had Adam and the Ants (Woo Hoo!), Duran Duran and a host of New Romantic outfits. 'Con 3' is as cold and opposite to those bands as you could possibly imagine. Analogue synths are sliced and diced like a chef chopping onions. It's SO German. The icily treated vocals are very similar to the Stranglers 'Meninblack' from 'The Raven' released during the same year.

The drum programming is appealing in it's Kraftwerk-like style. I have to admit though, that Conrad sounds like he's the last guy standing at a party at 4.00am and has suddenly switched on all the electronics, with eyes lit up, and just for a laugh decides to record everything from that point on. Personally I love that kind of stuff. His ramblings of 'Coca-Cola and no water' on 'Coca' are almost easy listening with a (rub your eyes in disbelief) a tuneful dub bass and marimba played Jamaican style!

There's squelchy keyboard sounds and bendy bass tremblings throughout. A lot of it sounds quite tinny and amateurish but 'Con 3' captures that German electronic 'chill' from '81. It's without the production values of a Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream but hits all the right buttons in 2017 due to its inherently German coldness.

It's all shoddy robotic nonsense of course, and for that reason itself, makes it enjoyable. If I was listening to this in 1981 I would have smashed the vinyl into pieces in a rage of anger. Now, over 30 years later, I have a feeling of nostalgia and appreciation for a time where music was purely analogue and genuine.