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LP
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N 084LP
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Let's forget that Saroos is a closed, three-minded system: a fixed and fully committed entity of three. Known to reinvent themselves in less drastic ways, Christoph Brandner, Max Punktezahl, and Florian Zimmer, have opened the floodgates to collaboration on their quietly explosive latest album Turtle Roll. Announced by 2021 singles "Tin & Glass" featuring Ronald Lippok and aptly titled "Frequency Change" featuring Leila Gharib aka Sequoyah Tiger, the sixth full-length sees the Berlin threesome add another handful of vocal guests along the way. Kicked off by the motoric B-funk (Berlin represent) of the Lippok-assisted "Tin & Glass," complete with retro-futuristic effects, spoken declarations, and non-terrestrial vibes, it might not be Daft Punk playing at their house, but a byobv (vibe) house party of musical minds isn't too far off, actually! Once again as much a mixtape as an album, the mood, vibe, and color changes with every new collaborative tune: From ethereally soothing and dreamy ("The Mind Knows" featuring Solent from Canada) to clap-driven and wildly hypnotic (that pounding "Mutazione," featuring vocals and rhymes courtesy of Eva Geist from Italy) and almost radio-ready when that stadium-sized oomph of "Frequency Change" featuring Sequoyah Tiger arrives around halfway in. Elsewhere, Japanese guest Kiki Hitomi (WaqWaq Kingdom) adds exotic ecstasy to the hypothermic beatscapes of "The Sign," while Ukrainian vocalist Lucy Zoria pushes poetic layers over "Southern Blue"'s wonky foundation that hardens and finds more direction with each round the beat clock takes -- until it's impossible to escape that undertow. "My baby makes it better," sings Caleb Dailey on the faithful and still-loving "Being with You," a sepia, softly churning look back by the US songsmith, a sweetly shimmering ode to a relationship. Speaking of foursomes, there's four instrumental tracks scattered throughout the new LP -- ranging from a painting in crystal clear colors of night ("Organ of Recall") to the highly dramatic sonic tapestry of "Thicket" (with vocals as well). Before the perfect goodbye of slow-moving album closer "Here Before," "Passed Out" sounds like Odd Nosdam finding his feet after blacking out on a German carnival. Titled after a surf maneuver that allows you to break through the crests on the way out, Saroos have skipped the obvious waves with Turtle Roll -- creating their own kind of sonic "Hang Ten" by adding seven new voices to the mix. Includes download code; edition of 300.
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N 072LP
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Deliberately breaking all the rules Mr. Hornby once famously outlined regarding the creation of homemade (tape) compilations, Saroos's members indeed had the term "mixtape" on their minds while working on their latest full-length -- albeit in the hip-hop sense: a sonic snack box, interconnected shots from the hip, something that just came together and immediately felt right. Whereas hip-hop folks nowadays often use the vacuous term "project" in order to steer clear of the ontological debate caused by the almost synonymous use of album/mixtape, Florian Zimmer, Christoph Brandner, and Max Punktezahl, otherwise busy with The Notwist, Driftmachine, and Lali Puna, stick to the classics: their new 16-track project OLU (Off Label Use) is, officially, still an album. But it's wild and vibrant like a mixtape, interwoven like its cover: a seamless burst of ideas, impulsively combined to form a split-screen snapshot of recent moments and momentums. Re-appropriating the term "Off Label Use" -- which actually means: using prescription drugs in ways that aren't mentioned on the instruction leaflet -- in their own "off-label" way, Saroos never sounded more loose-limbed and elastic. Whereas the trio's earlier releases were rather conceptual and homogenous, OLU indeed has a more loose, spur-of-the-moment feel, a spontaneous force at its core. Checking the weighty sci-fi inspirations at the door, they use that Bomb Shelter-type of freedom to reinvent themselves at every turn, chasing sounds that happened to emerge in the group's triangular energy field. "Quarantaine", the massive reverb-stumblin' adjustment between beats and bass, opens and cross-fades smoothly into "Humdrum Rolloff", an early hint at the group's off-label practices: the underwater creepers floating around here were really voices (mostly). From majestically built oriental sound-pieces ("Looney Suite Serenade"), synth-based "End House Mario", and a triptych of speaker-boxxxing gas lamp experimentations entitled "Cord Burn 1-3", Saroos have rarely sounded this playful and unrestricted: there's a new energy at work that welds all the different sonic playing fields together to create one continuous 40 minute mix. "Tatsu Jam" billows over the kind of sizzling hi-hats you'd expect to hear on real trap tapes from Hotlanta. A prelude to a bunch of quicker-paced instrumentals ("Scratch Pets", "24h Love Gumbo") and ambient sun showers, until the next "Plateau" (Mo'Wax vibes!) brings the beats to the fore once again ("Tomorrow's Kudos"), and the ultimate "Whirligig" sounds like a mix of Oktoberfest 2020 and Johnston's "Casper The Friendly Ghost" coming apart at the seams. Features Wild Card. Includes download code; Edition of 300.
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LP
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N 045LP
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German trio Saroos present their fourth album, the densely layered Tardis, exploring new possibilities with renowned producer Tadklimp. Since they formed Saroos in 1998, Florian Zimmer (ISO68, Jersey, Driftmachine), Max Punktezahl (The Notwist, Contriva), and Christoph Brandner (Lali Puna, Console) have continued to evolve as an ever-changing creative force, which has now been meticulously channeled into their strongest musical statement yet. Having already collaborated with Anticon's Alias and cLOUDDEAD's Odd Nosdam, the trio open up for another outside perspective by collaborating with Tadklimp, who mixed Saroos's third album, Return (N 035CD/LP). Tadklimp, who has worked with Fenster and Slow Steve, accompanied the trio from the very beginning, contributing to the record's sound and adding his own ideas to their unique mélange of otherworldly sounds. While Saroos usually base their composition process on sampling and the interplay of minute elements, for this album they let their ideas diffuse boundlessly before transforming them in carefully thought-out compositions that sit between pop sentiment and the atmospheric gravity of instrumental music. While Zimmer's experiments with modular synthesizers in his side project Driftmachine also had an influence on Tardis, the members' respective roles haven't changed much. It is still Zimmer who provides the rough sketches, which undergo harmonic and rhythmic refinement at Punktezahl and Brandner's hands, while also taking in countless references. From a rerecorded Rosemary's Baby sample to a koto (a Japanese stringed instrument), every influence is transformed and tied together tightly to create an imaginative whole that aims at capturing the unimaginable without ever explaining it. From the spooky sounds piercing the otherwise soothing interplay of joyful melodies on opener "Weaver's Cave" to the ethereal vocal performance buried deep in the mix of "Orange Book" and the bubbling sounds with which "Sleepy White" closes the album, Tardis cunningly integrates unheard-of elements into seemingly familiar structures. Tardis is thus not intended to simply evoke the time machine and spacecraft from Doctor Who, but takes the acronym "Time and Relative Dimension in Space" literally. Everything about Tardis seems removed from both time and space, relatively close but as if from another dimension. Fittingly, when asked which vocalist Saroos has dreamt of collaborating with, Zimmer names the late Broadcast lead vocalist Trish Keenan. Much like Broadcast's music, Tardis creates dense layers in which ghosts can wander freely, evoking vaguely remembered thoughts.
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CD
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N 035CD
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Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack: The beat of riding on a train before the invention of pneumatic suspension was no jazz. But combined with the landscape passing by the window, its steady, pulsing beat had consequences. Digressing thoughts, imagination kicking in -- this principle can be heard on Saroos' third album. The three band members, who live in Berlin and Munich, have toured Italy by train numerous times. They liked it a lot -- you travel more slowly, you tour at low revs, with enough click-clack to make it click in the head. Take "Tsalal Nights." A rhythm, as straight as if drawn with a sewing machine, yet the music lets your brain whir casually and playfully in all sorts of directions. Retro-futurism in a slightly psychoactive form -- more H.P. Lovecraft than Jules Verne. "Spiaggia di Pluto" throbs in extraterrestrial chill, but with the stylish coolness of a Kubrick-space-lounge in the year 2001, whereas "Kraken Mare" lets the listener float through a sea of glacial sounds -- and then, in the closing moments, tugs them in a rhythmic eddy. Compared to their earlier albums, the beat seems so unrestrained that the sound has sufficient room. Sometimes jungle-electro-exotica wobbles through the undergrowth of sound in elliptic circles, sometimes the foghorn strikes up a savage dub, as if King Tubby was circulating through the analog nirvana after a particularly massive spliff. This makes the album not only more organic, but also more social. More man, less machine. When guests came round in the studio, the samplers remained turned off. This, of course, leaves marks. Not all as big as Fenster's Tadklimp, who contributed a bagful of sounds and had his fingers on the mixing console. Whoever expected a jam album from Saroos? But this is it.
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N 035LP
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LP version. Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack: The beat of riding on a train before the invention of pneumatic suspension was no jazz. But combined with the landscape passing by the window, its steady, pulsing beat had consequences. Digressing thoughts, imagination kicking in -- this principle can be heard on Saroos' third album. The three band members, who live in Berlin and Munich, have toured Italy by train numerous times. They liked it a lot -- you travel more slowly, you tour at low revs, with enough click-clack to make it click in the head. Take "Tsalal Nights." A rhythm, as straight as if drawn with a sewing machine, yet the music lets your brain whir casually and playfully in all sorts of directions. Retro-futurism in a slightly psychoactive form -- more H.P. Lovecraft than Jules Verne. "Spiaggia di Pluto" throbs in extraterrestrial chill, but with the stylish coolness of a Kubrick-space-lounge in the year 2001, whereas "Kraken Mare" lets the listener float through a sea of glacial sounds -- and then, in the closing moments, tugs them in a rhythmic eddy. Compared to their earlier albums, the beat seems so unrestrained that the sound has sufficient room. Sometimes jungle-electro-exotica wobbles through the undergrowth of sound in elliptic circles, sometimes the foghorn strikes up a savage dub, as if King Tubby was circulating through the analog nirvana after a particularly massive spliff. This makes the album not only more organic, but also more social. More man, less machine. When guests came round in the studio, the samplers remained turned off. This, of course, leaves marks. Not all as big as Fenster's Tadklimp, who contributed a bagful of sounds and had his fingers on the mixing console. Whoever expected a jam album from Saroos? But this is it.
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12"
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N 034EP
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Saroos are knee-deep in dub. The bass is a massive grounding force, underlying a dialog between exotic pop instrumentation and vocal samples. "Morning Ways" shows an eclectic side of Saroos never explored before. The minimalistic but playful loops and the slightly dizzying beat of "Henderson Island" (produced by Schlachthofbronx) leave enough space for a sparkling accordion line. "East," a collaboration with Fenster, is a percussive ballad with traces of recent UK bass music colliding with erratic guitar work.
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7"
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N 028EP
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Morr Music artist Populous refits the "Yukoma" track and gives the original tune's bubbling electronics, airy field recordings, and poignant synth melodies an electro-house backbone. While Saroos' ambient bell sounds and tribal percussion loops percolate in the distance, Populous toys with synthesizers, vocal samples, and compressed dance beats, all of which give his remix a fresh edge. Anticon's Jel throws in his beats on "Outrigger," giving the track a fresh new vibe. Produced and rearranged by Odd Nosdam.
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