Kopflastig

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Listeners captivated by the new German electronica of Mouse on Mars, To Rococo Rot, Monolake and other Deutschland audionauts should make a special effort to locate this fine debut CD by the duo of Antye (vocals, programming) and Jotka (treated guitars). There's magic here, starting with Antye's wonderfully flexible voice which, with the help of vocal processings is alternately witchy, sexy, alien, ethereal and conventionally beautiful. Sometimes she's a dead ringer for Bjork (in all her glorious eccentricity), and the so-called language barrier (for non-German speakers) matters not at all, because Antye's voice is an instrument of great emotional expression in any language. But Jotka's electric guitars are also a crucial part of the Laub sound, as he alternately creates swirling drones or locks into hypnotic blues riffs. The third ingredient of the sound, likewise highly effective, is the highly inventive electronic percussion, which is very much in the spirit of Mouse on Mars, filled with off-kilter rhythmic accents, backbeats, breakbeats and all manner of tonal colors -- from authentic-sounding rimshots, cymbal taps and kick drums to piston-driven factory engines. Produced in a home studio with relatively simple equipment, the sophistication and funkiness of this CD puts to shame the work of many more celebrated techno artists in Great Britain and the U.S. Check it out.