Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Jahrtal - Lichtbuch 2 [Self Release - 2020]

Lichtbuch 2 is the very welcome return of Austrian husband & wife folk duo Jahrtal- who in the late 2000s put out two great albums on the now sadly defunct Ahnstern label. This late 2020 release sees the band still showing their original mellow-yet spirit leanings, but with occasional more off-kilter-to- waveringly grand touches in places.

The album is self-released by Ewald Spiss, who handles all of the instruments, the writing of the largely instrumental tracks, and the male vocals. The eleven-track album comes in the form of CD, or digital download- this rolls in at spot on the forty two minute mark, with each track hitting between one & seven minutes apiece.

The CD is presented a six-panel matt digitpak, which features a blue-washed colour scheme we also get Austrian texts, and full credits also in Austrian too- it’s a simple, yet effective bit of package that fits in with the look of projects previously releases

The album opens up in a decidedly glum-if- slightly off-kilter fashion with the just under one and a half minutes of “Den Meistern”- which brings together a descending & wavering gloom pipe organ with rich buzzing & twanging ethnic string tones. By track four “Migtsema” and it's nearing five-minute flow- we find a blend of twanging banjo, warbling pipe, and lightly baying electronic guitar tones- coming off like a wailing, slightly off-colour & vocal-less  Neil Young folk rock work-out. Later on, we come to the jaunting male & female sing-song & bounding acoustic bass strum of “ Schaeferlied”. With the album playing out with the rousing-if-off-kilter “Migtsema RYDG”- which finds like joint-yet wavering male & female choral chants, over a low key organ simmer.

In finishing Lichtbuch 2 is another charming, if at points wonky & wavering slice of Germanic folk, I’d  had thought like a lot of their labels mates on Ahnstern that Jahrtal was no more- so it’s certainly great to see they are still carving out their distinctive sound. To find out more & pick up a copy of Lichtbuch 2 for yourself, head here

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Jahrtal - Lichtbuch 2
Lichtbuch 2 is the very welcome return of Austrian husband & wife folk duo Jahrtal- who in the late 2000s put out two great albums on the now sadly ...
221225   Zoltán Huszárik-1963- 1979 ...
201225   Re-Animator - Re-Animator( Bl...
191225   Venus DIE-trap - Venus DIE-tr...
191225   Coyotes - Coyotes(VOD/ Blu Ray)
181225   Various Artists - Santa Is Ro...
181225   Death Ride - Death Ride( DVD)
181225   Don’t Open Until Christmas ...
181225   SS Experiment Love Camp - SS ...
171225   Plezzure - Plezzure
171225   May Cause Death,/Hana Haruna ...
Latest Articles

Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound & Film
As the year rolls to its end. Here are our writers' best-of lists for 2025, and as always, it’s a highly genre-varied mixed selection of titles- highli...
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom