Pyrolator – Ausland

Pyrolator is a solo project of Kurt Dahlke, a member of Der Plan. Ausland (abroad) is reminiscent of the Resident’s surrealist spirit but with a new wave touch that eases the music.

It begins with 'Max', a light piece à la Der Plan that moves on with 'Die Haut der Frau' (woman’s skin), a track with a minimalist touch. 'Mein Hund' combines electronic and acoustic sounds with an almost funky rhythm for a slightly minimalist sound. 'Gold & Silber' is a spellbinding and muffled piece with a myriad of sounds that burst out here and there. In 'Bacano Brothercito', we return into surrealism with spanish lyrics and a swinging rhythm. This musical landscape is seasoned with sonic textures that gives strength to this furious rhythm piece. '180˚' is a sort of new wave à la DAF (Dahlke was among its founders) but more minimalist. Orgasm’s screams and sounds are inserted into the rhythm, thus creating a narrative framework that evolves during the entire piece. This prepares the ground for the album’s masterpiece, 'True Love', a long collage scattered with juicy extracts from the TV in a great groove. Many extracts talk about the afterlife and drugs, this being done in a mesmerizing montage punctuated with electronic sounds. It furiously ends with a steam locomotive and moves on with 'Studio Fatal', a superb track that begins a capella with a female voice and goes on with another electronic and minimalist piece with a touch of free jazz in which a woman explains, in french, how to use a recording studio. It is followed by 'Cassiopeia X', an ambient track made of noises that gives us a pause and allows us to breathe. It ends with 'Du bist so… ich träume' (You are so … I dream), a light piece that resemble the rest of the record.

Pyrolator has produced another superb album which is much lighter : 'Wonderland'. My comment is for the vinyl version of 'Ausland'. The CD has 8 mores songs and last 64 minutes.

© Alain Cliche 2016