Zweilicht

a review by Bill Tilland of
release format Zweilicht by Kante (CD Album)

text

Kante's previous CD, 'Zwischen Den Orten', was a decent enough debut, but it didn't really hint at this stunning follow-up. Considering the laid-back, post-rock minimalism of the first effort, when the promotional material for new release listed fourteen additional musicians, all sorts of possibilities suggested themselves, some of them not too savoury...

Turns out, though, that the additional instrumental voices are a string orchestra and horns, used in a muted, colouristic fashion mainly to carve out large, sonorous blocks of sound. No ghastly orchestral progrock symphonies here - you know, the kind with soaring, throbbing strings, horns going arooop, arooop, and the vocalist hitting the high notes at the end, just to show you how significant it all is.

In contrast, 'Zweilicht' is all understated power, with vocalist Peter Thiessen staying well within his vocal range, his voice communicating just a hint of passion and/or a little bite at times, and horns and (mainly low) strings brooding underneath, And while I don't speak German, it doesn't really matter. This is a fine piece of work in any language.

For the record, I was told by a middle-aged expat German friend (who also asked me where she could buy the CD, even before she had heard it all the way through!) that the lyrics are quite literate and sometimes even profound. So that's a bonus for all you German-speakers.

The title translates as "in first light," and the title piece starts with a single quivering high note from the strings, which gives way to a group chant reminiscent of Florian Fricke and Popul Vuh. String bass and a guitar introduce the simple theme, which is then picked up by Theissen's vocal. The drummer's use of mallets and the chorded piano introduce a jazz element - perhaps just a hint of Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme'. The gravitas of the piece is reinforced by long tones from an horn ensemble (French horn and clarinets?), and a full string rendition of the theme as the piece ends.

Perhaps even more powerful is 'Itouri,' which benefits from an outstanding arrangement. A strummed acoustic guitar establishes the initial pattern again, but is soon complemented by another descending pattern played by massed strings, heavy on the bowed cello and double bass, with additional low end weight supplied by plucked string bass and what sounds like a tuba or sousaphone. Theissen's vocal is simplicity itself - just a three or four note pattern - accompanied by brief, choral bursts which are repeating throughout the song.

Some listeners might find the effect here a touch lugubrious, but this piece gives me the shivers, even after I've heard it fifty times (and I have). The ironically titled 'Best of Both Worlds' is another elegant downer, featuring a pensive poetic sample, in English, by an unidentified individual with a Jamaican accent, accompanied by a lonely clarinet and some brooding mallet work by the drummer. 'Imersten Licht', 'Live at the Electric Avenue' and 'Die Summe der einzelnen Telle' are all a little more sprightly (and more conventional), and the latter even rocks out some, with some nifty wall-of-sound power riffing from the guitars, punchy drumming and a vocal which exchanges melancholy for something almost approaching aggression.

A fine CD, start to finish, but the orchestral pieces are unique - and brilliant. Posted by Bill Tilland at 00:00, 24 Apr 2001