There is something that just feels right about electronic music being performed by German musicians. And Sonic Behavior - an experimental collaboration between Berlin-based electronic duo Driftmachine and renowned German author, journalist and playwright Andreas Ammer - is another notable addition to this mythical canon.

Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer first workshopped together before their dark synthesised soundscapes developed into something more fertile. Gerth had shifted from his background in visual art to the Tied and Tickled Trio, exploring electronic dub and jazz, while also working solo with other electronic artists including producer Shackleton. Zimmer, meanwhile, plays with trio Saroos, who similarly dabble in dub and electronica, and is part of noise experimentation outfit Ellicist. Prolific together and apart, Gerth and Zimmer - using their trusty modular synths - have released several albums as Driftmachine including 2014’s Nocturnes, influenced by Alex Ross’ seminal The Rest is Noise, and most recently 2021’s Spume and Recollection. Ammer on the other hand has been busying away for well over thirty years writing radio plays and collaborating with the likes of Acid Pauli and FM Einheit.

It's hardly surprising, therefore, that together the two sets of musicians have created an exhilarating sonic exploration that spans both genre and sound. Centred around the composition ‘Song to Noise’, which bookends the album, the album opens into an industrial world of electronic effects and danceable beats (just) overflowing with sonic tweaks and twists that sweetly tap into the 70s German aesthetic.  Less than two minutes in, voices enter. First up is Alexander Hacke (of Einstürzende Neubauten and Hackedepicciotto) with echoes of Kraftwerk - the words ‘ghettoblaster’ and ‘walkman’ discernible to the non-German speaker. This is then blended with the poetry of Deryn Rees-Jones – deftly delivered by the poet herself. ‘I call on your lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, your ill-tuned radios, your television sets’.  Beats and dub nonchalantly chugging along in the background. The track petters out as we enter ‘A Siren Is A Simple Device’ welcomed by the voice of 81-year-old American musician and poet, Ted Milton. Sirens and industrial noise building dramatically courtesy of the siren organ that was built by Ammer himself. Dystopia at its most terrifying. As the sound dips Milton’s voice re-enters until drifting away once more to be overtaken by rhythmic beats and that alarming danger signal.

Milton returns for ‘Sonic Sculpture’ where he intones his desire to hear the sound of a piano falling down the stairs. Still dark, but less intense, the listener is dragged into the cosmic-wyrd world of a piano falling through space. Musical gasps and subtle electronic effects combine with Milton’s voice until almost two-thirds of the way in when said piano appears in the foreground to begin its ruinous journey. ‘The sound of a piano, a piano falling down the stairs.’ Strangely reminiscent of Alvin Lucier’s legendary ‘I Am Sitting in a Room’, the destruction takes centre stage until giving to the sound of Milton’s maniacal voice and the final crash.

 Sonic Behavior rounds off with the instrumental version of ‘Song to Noise’ and a shift to the sensibility of the early 80s German underground. This is a wonderful dancy-dubby-narrated piece of art. Listen here.