Poploops for Breakfast

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Vienna, the city that led the world into the 20th century, is gearing up it's electronic music revolutionaries for the 21st. Given the Mego mob, the Sofa Surfers/Monoscope crew, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Orchester 33 1/3, and the mighty Christian Fennesz for starters, it's clear that in their own understated way, Vienna has one of the thriving European music scenes at present. Karl Kraus' famous quote about Wien being an "experimental station for the end of the world" may seem a little anachronistic now, but it still functions as a junction point between east and west (Metternich's quote about "the Orient" starting to the east of Vienna springs to mind too - again anachronistic, but a transgressive zone is always fertile soil for artistic experimentation). B. Fleischmann fits in beautifully amongst the aforementioned crowd - futuristic electronica but with a characteristic warm, dubby funk. Fleischmann's studio, in the 16th district of Vienna, has been his focus since 1998, when working as a solo artist seemed preferable to the guitar bands he'd previously featured in. "Poploops ..." emerged over 1998-99, recording alongside fellow producer Christof Kurzmann, and is very lovely indeed. The title somehow captures an essence of the sound, without making any literal sense - it is as accessible, and as enveloping as pop can be, but it's not really a pop record. It's certainly built around loops, however the record really conjures up the solitary late night drive, or pleasurably lonely early morning, rather than the mundane processes of a breakfast. Whatever. It still sounds right! Fleischmann talks of "harmonies and fine melodies in different soundscapes" - he strives for different noises not disturbing the harmonies of the songs, but communicating with the other sounds. There is certainly a natural sense of harmony to the sound, which warms the soul as the European winter begins to draw in. Certain aspects are little Takemura-like - the last track, "Chad F." in particular - but the overall sound is the Brian Eno of 'Another Green World' catapulted forward 25 years. The same warmly buzzing analogue synths; the same major harmonies and naive melodies; the same minimal, repetitive patterns; and what sounds like the same use of accident, random behaviour, and chance in the recording process. There's also a vaguely reminiscent feel of early-80s synth pop - the tones are rather more muted, yet attractively so. It's a non-vocal music, no doubt constructed in the digital studio, but it's very human too. There's a gentle warmth pervading the sound. Released on Morr Music in Germany, Charhizma in Austria, and distributed by Baked Goods in the UK (bakedg@hotmail.com).