Notstandskomitee – Theme From Space Guards (EP – Block 4)
Genre/Influences: Minimal-Electro, Experimental, Soundtrack.
Format: Digital, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Malte Steiner gained a reputation in the 90s, first with Das Kombinat and next with Notstandskomitee. Most of the works were released on the good-old cassette format and became praised items for lovers of minimal Electro-Wave music. This new work was originally written for the videogame “Space Guards”, which was created by Malte Steiner in 2005 and for which he also composed four tracks. The songs are now available for the very first time in a physical ormat.
Content: Malte Steiner remains driven by the passion for Minimal-Electro sounds, this approach being totally appropriated to compose music for a videogame. Low linear bass lines mixed with melodic-like space sounds are leading the listener into “Theme From Space Guards”, which also is the debut track. We next notice nervous, aggressive bass lines with Psychedelic Electronics on top. The opening song from the second side is more elaborated and features fragmented vocals/samplings.
+ + + : This work is clearly meant to be part of a wider entity; the video game would be probably not the same without music and vice versa. But if you’re familiar with the sound of this artist, you for sure are going to like the Minimal-Electro fusion. The opening song is a noticeable cut, but I especially recommend “Skycity”, which is more worked out and gets us back to the famous Minimal Electro-Pop style of Notstandskomitee.
– – – : For younger generations who never heard of this artist before, I would not exactly recommend discovering the artist with this production. There are more accessible productions to reveal the potential of Notstandskomitee.
Conclusion: The fans of the artist will be pleased to get this production on vinyl.
Best songs: “Skycity”, “Theme From Space Guards”.
Rate: 7.
Artist: www.facebook.com/Notstandskomitee-128400571965
Label: www.block4.com
About Notstandskomitee
Notstandskomitee is the solo project of German musician Malte Steiner, set up in 1991. Steiner released a series of tape recordings in the early 1990s before moving to CD, working in minimal electronics and experimental music. He also runs the label Block 4 and has been involved with Das Kombinat, Elektronengehirn and Akustikkoppler. In the Click interview with Notstandskomitee: ‘The idea was to paint with sound’ he stated that what remains from the early years is “the playfulness and the will to experiment”, adding that he designs his own instruments, software and hardware.
Steiner created the videogame “Space Guards” in 2005 and composed four tracks for it. Those tracks were unavailable outside the game until Block 4 issued them on 6 October 2021 as a digital download and as a limited-edition vinyl EP. The four tracks are “Theme From Space Guards”, “Battle On Mars”, “Skycity” and “Cosmos”.
The split album Notstandskomitee / THX 1971 – Elektrofusion (Album – Minimalkombinat) followed in early 2022, and Notstandskomitee – The Doomsday Layout (Album – Block 4), a sixteen-track selection composed between 2009 and 2023, appeared on Block 4 in 2023. Akustikkoppler, which Side-Line describes as an electronic duo featuring members of Das Kombinat, Notstandskomitee and Geisterfahrer, released the album Akustikkoppler – Alles Muβ Raus (Album – Block 4) in 2022.
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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.
