Klangkarussell - Netzwerk
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| Klangkarussell - Netzwork |
It must be one of those quirky
twists of fate that two of my favourite albums of the year are dance albums
that have come out of Austria. Parov Stelar's 'The Art Of Sampling' is still an
ever present in my car stereo and has recently been joined by Klangkarussell's
new long player 'Netzwerk'. The Salzburg duo kick things off with 'Eistee' and
immediately you're transported to a trancey, dubby, blissed out dance tent
somewhere at a festival around sunset as the instrumentals and bird noises
mingle in the air waves. 'Netzwerk (Fall Like Rain)' is more of an uplifting,
arms in the air dance tune with some gorgeous tribal vocals and chord changes
that make you want to rip your shirt off and dance in the rain. The vibe on
'Berlin' is slightly more subdued but again the melodies kick in and you
realise we're dealing with slick, professional dance heavyweights. It is on 'We
Want Your Soul', however, that the deal is sealed as the Baz Luhrmann-esque electronic
vocals drill in to your brain and convert you to an alternative religion. A
religion called dance.
'Sonnentanz (Sun Don't Shine)
[Feat. Will Heard]' is, quite frankly, a Faithless sized dancefloor filler
while 'Symmetry' has a rhythm that is impossible to resist and a synth chord
melody with enough edge to make the silky smooth vocals sound slightly
sinister. The track that probably sums Klangkarussell up best is 'Celebrate' with
its blend of dirty grooves, good clean melodies, soulful vocals and an
uplifting vibe that you just can't help but get swept up in. 'Sternenkinder' is
up next with a return to the tribal style vocal melodies and then 'Moments'
goes and gets all funky on our asses. As the album approaches the climax we are
treated to 'All Eyes On You', a tune which takes us down a road of dark,
Trainspotting style electro melodies that soundtrack the comedown like nothing
before. The bonus track at the very end, 'Sonnentanz', is a six minute
instrumental remix of the earlier track with the same name that, unusually,
actually has some worth on the album. As I said, this is not only one of the
best dance albums of the year or one of the best Austrian albums of the year,
this is probably going to be in my top 10 by the end of the year. Simply
superb.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/klangkarussell
Live Dates:
3rd October - Fabric, London
4th October - Warehouse Project, Manchester
10th October - Loft, Barcelona
7th November - Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavik
10th November - Docks, Hamburg
11th November - Gibson, Frankfurt
12th November - Muffathalle, Munich
14th November - Volkshaus, Basel
15th November - Bierhuebeli, Bern
16th November - LKA-Longhorn, Stuttgart
17th November - Arena, Bezrik Landstrasse
19th November - Live Music Hall, Cologne
21st November - Astra Kulturhaus, Berlin