Tarwater

Germany’s Tarwater duo might just be the missing link between the Teutonic electronic boom of To Rococo Rot (a band that shares a member with Tarwater), the American post rock of Tortoise and the British dirge-hop of Third Eye Foundation. Not surprisingly, representatives from all three corners take part in a remix of last year’s excellent Silur album by Tarwater, while Silur itself has just been released for the first time in North America by Mute. On Silur, the future vibe is a dirty film noir atmosphere with spoken word vocals over a raw and sultry slow-mo groove. The dreamy and scratchy ambient loops work acoustic instrumentation alongside sultry warm keyboards and simply programmed beats and samples. The electro-acoustic elements retain a fully tactile and organic nature. Maintaining a slight undercurrent of To Rococo Rot’s melodicism, Tarwater come off like Portishead and the Fall trapped in a damp dark dungeon. Compelling and confusing, Silur gets under your skin with its haunting chill. On the new remix album from Roomtone, it’s not surprising that To Rococo Rot leave the track “Visit” intact, complete with Marc Bolan lyrics. Bristol’s Third Eye Foundation and Michigan’s Kiln augment “To Describe You” and “The Watersample” with cold beats, while Birdwatcher, aka Dan Matz of Windsor for the Derby, goes to town extracting continuity and deconstructing “To Moauf” into its component clangs and squeals. However, it’s one time Tortoisite Bundy K. Brown who takes the most liberties constructing a murky hum that builds slowly and ends with a high pitched piercing and sustained singularity guaranteed to drive your dog bonkers.