SPÄT-EUROPA

Another ice cold early release by Tietchens. Simplistic tunes saturated with weird electronic effects are at the fore again. The short running times make this one of his easier albums to digest, unlike the later ones which are pretty much atonal abrasive glitch and squeak in approach.

An antiquated drum machine beatbox is utilised on most tracks which only adds to the alien quality of each tune. There's a definite DIY charm to these recordings using analogue equipment. Nothing digital, no laptop, no editing software, just good old fashioned squishy and bloopy synths. If you're a fan of Conrad Schnitzler or fancy a more unfriendly and less hospitable 'Cluster' you'll probably like this.

Tietchens is instantly recognisable with a distinct and very personal sound. The man's a walking Rubik's Cube - either that or a complete nut-job. And that's good enough for me in an age of a morass of similar sounding bands with little originality.