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GROBEK is the duo of Jörg Erren and Christian Steffen, who take part in an annual off-season synthesizer jam in the village of Ouddorp on the North Sea. Each of their Wintertime rituals yields a wealth of new music, made proper after additional weeks or months of editing and re-imagining. The tone of their album GROBEK I (57'50") veers from quietly electronic and textural, up to the kinetic and the reckless. Moving in the mad poetry of its energized, nodding notes, up through echoing, tumbling sequencer patterns, this album then again backs down - veering between the two realms in an easy flow. Calmly hypnotic, the pulse of this music tries to align the conflicting energies of the mind. Yet, within the overlapping mobility of circling and spiraling notes, the excitement, emotion and mystery of this work is expressed. As bold synth melodies search for accompaniment, the current of sound builds, recedes, then resolves into an adagio of synthesizer strings. Every minute of GROBEK I seems filled with something that demands our attention. With its interlinked shifting arpeggios the sound of a wildly spinning engine softens to that a more harnessed propulsion. The atmosphere is lean, transparent, surging - like currents journeying through a limitless expanse. Raw, dark and dreamy, we feel the potency of every note. GROBEK I is a studio album which vibrates with restrained intensity, yet remains fully energized by the free-form nature of the recording process. In its mix of anthemic melodies, harmonic landscapes and motorik rhythms the listener will find a steady sonic pleasure - as each of its nine tracks glitter with its own charm and electricity.
Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END - 5 September 2019
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