PAPIR

Whenever I start listening to an album that's classified under 'Space Rock,' I always have the tendency to expect it to sound like Pink Floyd. More often then not, I'm surprised. Papir is no exception, forgoing gently lilting melodies in favor of Krautrock-ish, driving rhythms and noisy walls of sound. This eponymous release is a very good album, and it reminds me that I love the internet age for being able to bring me into contact with an obscure neo-Krautrock band from Copenhagen that I never would have heard of otherwise.

'Kurl te pow ralise' begins with some very faint electronic sounds and rumblings before some subdued, faintly dissonant chords pierce the atmosphere. These are quickly followed by a quiet but persistent drum beat over which some spacey guitars begin to play a slow pattern. This motif repeats a couple of times before the song really hits its stride: distorted electronic effects and wailing guitars enter, giving the song a very krautrock kind of feel. At about 4 minutes in this wall of sound abates slightly, giving way to a more delicate arrangement of electronics, guitars and keyboards. This part quickly begins to build in intensity as well, however, with many of the same motifs from the beginning of the track making reappearances. This first track is really brilliantly paced, with instruments weaving in and out of the mix to create a very cohesive blend of sound and melodies coming and going with seamless transitions. 'Kurl te pow ralise' is very reminiscent to me of a lot of classic Krautrock, but there's enough modern electronic to keep it sounding fresh and interesting.

'lykk trep-r hi-los' continues the Krautrock vibe with an intro that sounds like it could have come straight off of Phallus Dei. The track has that kind of pseudo-eastern sound that played very prominently on that Amon D''l II album, with distorted, psychedelic guitars and frenetic drumming playing a large role in the instrumentation. The music reaches a fever pitch at about 3 minutes in before the howling guitars drop back a little bit and the track transitions into a less crazy, dreamier feel, though the drums keep up a high energy level. The electronics as well play a large role, with a lot of screeching and distortion placed just far back enough in the mix to give the song a great atmosphere without coming off as grating. As the track goes into its last two minutes all these sounds begin to blend together into a distorted, cathartic hum that brings the track to its conclusion.

'une frensal n-erit' begins a little more calmly than the previous track did, with some faint droning starting the track off. This eventually transitions into a sound that sounds a bit more like machines grinding then synthesizer notes, and some drums enter over this with a wild solo. Eventually the song drops into a more standard rhythm, and guitars enter with a repeating line as multiple synth and keyboard parts play around this rhythmic backbone. Overall this track is a little less crazy and a bit more spacey than the other tracks, with the majority of the track being more relaxing then it is frenetic. The last two minutes in particular feature a very chilled-out guitar line and some great, psychedelic synth parts.

'rogter sot oe koft' is the closer here, as well as the shortest track on the album. Following in the footsteps of the track before it, it begins with the most laid-back section on the entire album, with some very pleasant bass and piano providing a relaxing ambience. This is shaken up halfway through, however, when a driving guitar part enters amongst crashing drums and a high pitched, wailing synth part. This doesn't last long, however, as these instruments drop out and leave only the piano and bass to bring the track to its end. It's a very satisfying finale to the album, a nice moment of relative peace to finish off a rather chaotic album.

So overall Papir delivers a very impressive, very accomplished debut album here. Bringing heavy krautrock influence into their sound, they're nevertheless a very interesting group with a sound the likes of which isn't heard too much in most of today's music. This album is definitely recommended to anyone looking for modern music that recalls some of the real Krautrock greats, or just fans of this sort of noisy, chaotic psych-rock.

4/5