Morgenstern / Lippok — Tesri
Barbara Morgenstern started to release music in the mid-nineties, putting her name to four solo full-length as well as collaborating with a lot of people. Robert Lippok and his brother founded To Rococo Rot in 1995, releasing throughout the years acclaimed albums, remixing Appliance, Mira Calix or Leftfield and working with St Etienne.
Interestingly, it’s rather difficult to say who brought what to the music, it all sounds very coherent, as if they didn’t have any problems to have their two visions become one. It’s rather tempting, when you are rather known in a “scene” to try and do things your way in order to be the star of the album. No ego here, and that’s a good thing.
The music is of course very electronic and quite poppy too, although it remains most of the time way too abstract to qualify as songs. Sonically speaking, the duo did a fine job: there is a real quality, a depth to the music that you don’t always get on contemporary electronica release. Both Morgenstern and Lippok are good sound carvers.
Unfortunately, not all the compositions are great. A track like Winter is pretty dull, Otuskimi is annoying, same goes for a couple of other tracks. The problem is that the music is not really original, it’s all a bit overheard, so it takes “something else” to make it interesting or even enjoyable. A track like Kaitsuburi should be one of the interesting tracks, but in the end you get a song perfect for hipsters at some chic café in Brussels, Berlin or London early on Saturday evening, while they drink some expensive import beer before heading to some trendy club where it’s easy to get women, men and drugs. The annoying vocals of Mieko Shimizo don’t help.
The other “vocal” collaboration is better; Damon Aaron from Telefon Tel Aviv sings on If the days remain unspoken for. It’s a very nice song, simple, going straight to the point. Fans of DNTEL will find plenty to enjoy. Another good track is Geisterjäger and it’s little guitar “solo”. And I shouldn’t fail to mention Ein knoten aus Schwarz, a very good, mournful piece, more than an actual song, very close to being the best 3 minutes of the album.
Tesri is a mixed bag, really. I’m sure fans of Morgenstern, To Rococo Rot and of Monika Enterprises will love this, but others? I do not know.