Notstandskomitee – The Doomsday Layout (Album – Block 4)
Genre/Influences: Minimal-Electro, Experimental, Cinematic.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Block 4 owner Malte Steiner strikes back with a new album of his legendary Notstandskomitee project. The German Electro-Experimentalist got instant fame during the 90s and never stopped composing new material. “The Doomsday Layout” features sixteen tracks that have been composed between 2009 and 2023.
Content: For all of those who’re familiar with the work of the artist it will be rather easy to recognize his sound and approach. Notstandskomitee remains first of all devoted to the creation and experiment of sounds. It feels once more like sounds have been assembled in a sonic frame and getting more accessible by slow rhythms. The tracks are revealing endless effects but also deep bass lines and blasts, bombastic sound arrangements and a few vocal effects.
+ + + : Malte Steiner remains a true sonic architect; a studio engineer transposing sounds and noises into a new shape. Some tracks have a visual appeal while other are getting back to early Minimal-Electro experiments. A few other -and more accessible, cuts have this Kraftwerk-touch on top but Notstandkomitee remains first of all Experimental and even Abstract. The minimalism also becomes visionary when listening to the funny entitled song “Watch People Reacting To Music By Notstandskomitee” which has something Techno-like for future generations. The last track “Big Drama In Small Cities” is another great attention grabber for its sensual rhythmic, deep bass line and evasive sensation.
– – – : A very few spoken samplings and/or vocals would be a little bonus.
Conclusion: Music from a true Electro-scientist!
Best songs: “Watch People Reacting To Music By Notstandskomitee”, “Big Drama In Small Cities”, “Expertensysteme”, “Rules Replacing Trust”, “Planning The Unplannable”.
Rate: 8.
Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063645246848
Label: www.block4.com / www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063867523207
Listen to “The Doomsday Layout”:
About Notstandskomitee
Malte Steiner set up Notstandskomitee in 1991 as an industrial side-project to his own Das Kombinat, developing a style of postindustrial electronic minimal music built on analogue, digital and software-based instruments he designs himself. He has since released music through further side-projects including Elektronengehirn and Akustikkoppler, and runs the Block4 label he founded in 1989 to release his own catalogue. Steiner discussed his approach to sound design in a Side-Line Click Interview, describing himself as closer to a “sound architect” than a traditional musician.
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