Perhaps with one panel of the fold-out CD digipak leering at us with a picture of Johnson, Putin, Jong-un, and Trump, one in each of the quartered panel, and given the album title, it’s just as well this journey through a disturbed inner space is entirely instrumental, as lyrically it would all be just be too depressing. However, “depressing” is not an adjective that applies to the music here presented.
Das Rad are an improvisational collective based in Sheffield, and another band with the seemingly Sheffield-ubiquitous Martin Archer as a member. Martin, among other things, supplies keyboards and electronics to the sound, as indeed do the other two of the trio. Martin’s signature instrument is the saxophone, Nick Robinson’s the psychedelic guitar, and holding it all together are Steve Dinsdale’s anchoring rhythms. Together they take a free-rock template forged in the heat of the Krautrock furnace, and weld it to jazz and dub sensibilities, and thus create a righteously rocking and trippy whole.
Taking off with the rocket ship Inside Reverse, sparse occasional beats guide woodwind into a comets-on-fire guitar excursion from Nick Robinson, the symphonic cacophony eventually breaking down into its component parts before the engine sputters out. That first track was a loose but fiery construct, much in the style of the band’s first self-titled album from nearly two years back. The second atomic psalm is more structured and rhythmic, and Buzz Line is a tighter affair with some lovely sax work from Martin Archer that takes over and spars with Steve Dinsdale’s urgent drums.
This album is as much about the space between the notes as it is about the noise they make, proven by Deuce Of Gears as it turns the engines off and traverses a slow-moving ring of rocky debris orbiting a distant planet. The title track is a Kosmische blues for our times, chopped guitar chording and electric piano reverberate, deep baritone saxophone dispersing the miasma, becoming righteous. Despite its title, Adios Al Futuro has a distinct air of determined optimism. Don’t let the bastards grind you down, daddio!
Another Place contains more delightful sax blowing and has a distinctly David Sylvian vibe to it. This is a good thing. The languid beats of Oslo Star swing gently in a cradle of stars before the sparks from Nick’s snarling guitar send occasional flashes through the cosmos, agitating the drums in simpatico. Very nice indeedy!
We sign off with Tiefes Blau, a shimmering Kosmische vessel sailing on the becalmed azure seas into the far off distance, taking its time to develop over a very laid-back beat, echoing and reverberating in and out of focus through accompanying interstellar swooshes that swirl, disperse, and reform in front of the listener, the guitar’s quietly ringing harmonics adding another layer to the space cake. Das Rad in dub, as it were.
A lot of folk are put off by the word “improvisation”, as it conjures images of angular, disconnected noise in the minds of the more straight-laced listener. That can be the case, but in this instance, improvisation means something far less confrontational, but nonetheless exciting and involving. Give this a listen, you may be surprised!
TRACK LISTING
01. Inside Reverse (11:40)
02. Buzz Line (5:22)
03. Deuce Of Gears (4:58)
04. Adios Al Futuro (7:00)
05. Eisblume (2:43)
06. Rothko Strobe/Another Place (9:34)
07. Oslo Star (7:19)
08. Tiefes Blau (10:14)
Total Time – 58:52
MUSICIANS
Nick Robinson – Guitars, Keyboards, Electronics
Martin Archer – Woodwind, Keyboards, Synth Bass, Electronics
Steve Dinsdale – Drums, Keyboards, Electronics
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Discus Music
Country of Origin: U.K.
Date of Release: 7th May 2020