Motor!k – 3 (Album – Out Of Line)
Genre/Influences: Krautrock.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: This is the third (mini)-album by Belgian Motor!k trio. Joeri Dobbeleir, Dirk Ivens (Dive) and Dries D’Hollander bring us six new songs which have been announced as different from their previous works.
Content: I can’t say the work is totally different, but it sounds more Electronic than previous productions. The electronic treatments are even predominant on some tracks while the guitar playing is more prominent at the end creating a sonic climax and cataclysm. You’ll also notice more relaxing passages while the last cut has something Cinematic-like and is driven by a superb melody line. The production remains instrumental.
+ + + : Both debut cuts are powerful, but I especially like the way both cuts have been progressively built up to end in a sonic orgasm. This work also sounds more Electro driven, which creates a better balance with the Psychedelic guitar playing. I also have to mention the last song for its beautiful melody line and Cinematic sensation.
– – – : The softer side of the work (cf. “Hourglass”, and “Unisono”) unfortunately isn’t the most convincing one. It’s too long without a true apotheosis.
Conclusion: Motor!k remains one of the most unique bands from the Out Of Line roster. They don’t only bring something different, but also something sexy.
Best songs: “Socrates”, “Stunden”, “Reflections”.
Rate: 7½.
Artist: www.facebook.com/MOTORIKBELGIUM
Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel
Listen to “3”:
About Motor!k
Motor!k is a Belgian Krautrock trio set up in 2018 by Joeri Dobbeleir on guitar and synths, Dries D’Hollander on drums and Dirk Ivens on guitar and effects. Dobbeleir and Ivens live in the same town; Ivens had released the debut album by Dobbeleir’s other band, The Whereabouts Of J. Albert, in 2017. The two started jamming with a drum computer and a bass sequencer before asking D’Hollander, previously the drummer in Dobbeleir’s early band Suburb Songs, to join.
In a Click Interview with Side-Line, Dobbeleir named NEU!, Harmonia and Wire as reference points and described the working method: he writes the basic synth and guitar tracks at his home studio, sends demos to Ivens and D’Hollander, and the trio then jams the songs into shape, with drums and guitars recorded in their rehearsal room and mixing handled at D’Hollander’s place.
The self-titled debut album appeared in 2019 on Out Of Line, a label better known for dark electronics, EBM and electro-pop, and “Motor!k 2” followed in 2021. “3” was released on 13 May 2022 on Out Of Line as a six-track record running about 39 minutes: “Stunden”, “Socrates”, “Hourglass”, “Unisono”, “Zug” and “Reflections”. It was issued digitally, on CD and as an LP-plus-CD set, keeping to the band’s stated aim of an album a year.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
