Customer Reviews

Kolner Brett

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Kolner Brett is a brief (36 minute) "soundtrack" -- although not in the usual sense of the word. Rather than being the musical cues from a film, Kolner Brett was commissioned for a building. From the inside sleeve: "Kölner Brett is the name of a building, designed by Cologne architects b&k+ in 2000, that blends living and working in each of its single units. On the occasion of Archilab, an architectural exhibition held at Orleans in May 2001, b&k+ and Staubgold presents a musical translation of the Kölner Brett, composed by To Rococo Rot. The music of To Rococo Rot reflects the architectural grid (twelve equally sized modules giving structure to the building as a whole) as well as the possible individual living and working conditions of the dwellers, respectively."

So this brief album is environmental music, the sort of refined and looped electronica/postrock that fans of the band are accustomed to, although any hooks are toned down in favor of cyclic motifs. The tracks are non-specific -- none of them have titles -- so they are not necessarily assigned to certain rooms of the building, but rather represent the modularity and multi-user aspects of Kolner Brett's regions.

Interesting overall, if very brief. Lippok, Lippok, and Schneider continue to produce intriguing music that prefers an organic approach to harmonic/melodic concerns over the percussive insistence or ambient rootlessness of so much other electronica. This is an approachable piece of music, though not necessarily essential.