Mondkopf’s (aka Paul Régimbeau) latest release is a feast for the ears, packed with lilting loops and infernal doom. This is all accompanied by ringing, high-pitch sine tones, which keep the space of Spring Stories as full as possible without ever negating the duality of foreground and background.
 

This dialectical tension is a structural principle of this work, where light and the forces of darkness push against one another, neither side ever conquering the other. The tension is not so much an active force as it is a boundary, a temporal horizon through which Mondkopf’s guitars carve an unfolding space, breaking into occasional shards of source material and collaborative moments by guest performers, such as Frederic D. Oberland (reeds) and the Necks’ drummer Tony Buck.
 

The overall feel of each of Spring Stories’ six tracks is on the moody side of the emotional spectrum, restless, maybe, though never frustrated. This is key to the album’s slow-burn, more languid than languishing, where Régimbeau’s improvised droney electric guitar acts more like a shadow over the sonic landscape than a curtain.     

The release will appeal to those fond of early Krautrock guitar pioneers like Manuel Göttsching or Günter Schickert, as well as those who favour the power of something on the subterranean side of the tonal register; or, if you’re like me, both! Very highly recommend.