KANTE

Kante's first album is in my view the only one that earns the post rock genre tag without reservations. Later they went off in rather different directions, even though still holding on to a somewhat understated relaxed approach.

Although the opener and last track are the only true instrumentals, there isn't much singing also elsewhere, and the focus is on the atmosphere and the flow of the music. The arrangements are much sparser than on later Kante albums with the core members Peter Thiessen, Sebastian Krane, and Andreas Vogel playing pretty much everything as far as I know (guitar, keyboards, drums, bass, some percussion, and vocals that is), except a very short spoken word guest appearance. The music is mostly very transparent and minimalist. As often with post rock, there are hardly any standard song structures, and the focus is on teamwork rather than individual instrumental performances or the singing. Harmonically, some parts are pretty interesting with things hanging atmospherically in the balance. We get very few notes in some places making it unclear and potentially interesting where things will go, and sometimes they go nowhere. There is more suspense than resolution, although they can do calm and nice occasionally.

There are also some dynamic parts with nice rhythmic ideas, occasionally odd time signatures, and a fascinating rhythmic interplay between the musicians that becomes more effective in contrast to the generally relaxed mood and straight playing on the album. Note particularly "Entfernt", the most innovative track in terms of rhythm, contrasts, and also harmonies, and the one that first stuck with me.

Different from later albums, this one has a very much down to earth production that is transparent and fine for the music; high production values became more important for them later. I've got to say though that at least the drumming sounds better here than on later albums where the drummer's role was more relegated to the background. Here he contributes stronger to the overall dynamics.

It took me quite some time to get into this album. For years I found it clearly weaker than Kante's later instrumentally and melodically richer work, as initially I didn't find much memorable on this album. However over the years I came to enjoy this one more and more, and now I play it rather regularly, and I'd go up to say 3.8 stars rounded to four. This is proper post rock, and pretty unique and well conceived within that genre. You may think it doesn't give you that much to cling to, but its mood may still get you eventually, and I love the casual and understated way how they get some strangeness and innovation in through the backdoor.

Kante were a somewhat late coming but still leading band of what was called Hamburger Schule (Hamburg School) at the time. The Hamburg School had influences from post punk, post rock, the German branch of new wave, Neue Deutsche Welle, indi rock and others. The music was often relaxed, and the lyrics were German and often sophisticated and intellectual. On the other hand, there was often a no frills approach to singing with rather untrained everyday voices. It is somewhat surprising that Kante as a Hamburger Schule band find their way into progarchives, but on their albums they shine with the most complex and thought through arrangements and compositions, also taking on jazz and even the odd classical influence. The connection to progressive rock becomes pretty clear, and Kante's albums are certainly the most sophisticated and composition centered of the Hamburger Schule, even though (as typical for Hamburger Schule) the singer has a rather casual storyteller approach. While working well for the music and lyrics, he is no Peter Gabriel or David Bowie for sure, and people looking out for an expressive and passionate frontman better look elsewhere. In fact the priority of lyrics and instrumentation over the singing and the anti-stardom are part of the concept, and the singer has his own appeal in this way. I should also say for those who are interested in German lyrics that that these are not actually overly intellectual, but rather poetic in a nice down to earth way, well done without pretention.

Zombi had to follow up on the marvellous Zweilicht, and continues in the same vein. The album is very rich instrumentally, mostly dominated by acoustic instruments, with a strong harmonic and melodic role taken by the piano. Besides the rock standard of drums, bass (double bass occasionally), and guitar, various percussion, saxophone and further wind instruments are used. On top of that, some tasteful electronics and samples also appear. The songs all have their very unique character and there is quite some variation on the album. Mostly the atmosphere is relaxed and tracks are low to mid-tempo with the title track as only exception. The arrangements evoke the sense of open rolling landscapes; despite a great number of ideas and influences, everything has enough space to breath deeply.

The whole album is very melodic and harmonic, with some quite catchy numbers and art pop influences. But there is also space for experimentation, particularly in the two instrumentals, the rather symphonic Baron Samedi and New Babylon, which even features some free jazzy parts. The subtle use of tapes and samples is also remarkable. This is ensemble music without ego trips that lives from the complex interplay and the rich sound world. The instrumental performances all serve the overall impression; this is not for fans of flashy solos; a somewhat weak point for me as a rhythm addict is the fact that drums and bass don't usually do more here than assisting the flow of things; even this kind of music could do with more interesting drumming. Fortunately the percussion helps quite a bit.

Overall a very elegant and beautiful album, melodic, relaxed, but still quite sophisticated. Wo die Fluesse Singen is one of my favourite love songs. Maybe the best, most symphonic starting point into Kante for prog fans.

Im ersten Licht (In The First Light) opens this beautiful sophomore album by Kante (German for 'Edge') telling the things that one can see in the countenance of the person sleeping on the other side of bed. Things that can only be seen in the ephemeral transition from night to day, on the verge to awaken, but still dreaming. Things that painfully crawl into the new day, but won't find a place in memory or understanding, because they are made of fragmentary words and gestures, probably because they are not made to be understood. The repetitive, almost sleepwalk-like melody is underpinned and enhanced by a great string arrangement adding dramatism and sheer atmosphere.

The second and third track maintain the high level of interest on both lyrical and musical level. Die Summe der einzelnen Teile (The Sum Of Every Part) goes for a faster tempo, leading to a great chorus mounted on a big, noisy sounding guitar riff. Ituri (a touristic destination in Africa) reloads the initial theme of the unrealized items in a couple relation, with fantastic texture provided by the strings, and electronically treated voices creating a sort of refrain.

The two longest tracks around here, Best of Both Worlds and Zweilicht, navigate more the experimental side of things, and, even when I clearly prefer the former stuff, they make a good listen for the right moment, being full of great instrumental touches (listen to the clarinet!) and pristine sound quality.

Live at the Electric Avenue returns to the earlier song form (still German lyrics), but with a much lighter (almost pop) spirit. And, closing the album in a mostly instrumental fashion, My Love Is Still Untold adds a few clarinet stylings to the proceedings.

An album that, being maybe not entirely balanced, still remains full of things to enjoy.