Wasser Im Wind

Roedelius' first trio since Harmonia, an offbeat jam with Austria's finest

Roedelius' career is notable for the almost total absence of African-blues influences that nourish the roots of most 1950-60-70s rock music. Yet there's an almost Burundi-style fury to the keyboard drums of "Zwei Sind Eins" as Roedelius' dance-music-for-head inches its way down to the solar plexus and hips. The candle-pale romance of Alexander Czjzek's ghostly sax makes three cameo appearances, twisting and turning within Roedelius' looped rhythms. Add in the Viennese multi-instrumentalist and producer Eric Spitzer Marlyn's versatility on acoustic guitar, e-bass and wacky studio effects - often inspired, sometimes distracting - as you can hear Roedelius' Selbstportrait muse being stretched in new directions. Recorded in Vienna, which then lacked its own alternative or electronica scene, there's an appealing freshness here that's unlike anything else of its time.

Source: Stephen Iliffe