Closer Musik – After Love

Rides + Departures = Instant Classic. I prefer the melodic instrumentals.

This reminds me a lot to Jimi Tenor and the Finnish scene.

Dirk Leyers and Mathias Aguayo only released one album as Closer Musik, but what a startling beauty AFTER LOVE is. After starting with the crisp minimalism of "Closer Dancer," it shifts into the mesmerizing and gorgeous "Departures," the unmistakable highlight of the album with its complex 10/4 rhythm and beguiling melody. "Last" returns to straightforward techno, but "Ride" slows down for a thoughtful drift, punctuated by jabs of bass and Aguayo's laconic patter. The Morse code blipping in from "Mir" suggests funky kind of retro-futurism that's augmented by the deep mechanical growls, while the sedate beats of "You Don't Know Me" hang upon Aguayo's lyrics. "Giganten" returns to a more upbeat tempo with the a simple but effective melody. Alas, this is the last we'll ever hear of Closer Musik, but there's still plenty to love about this album after.

A1: House. Glitchy, moody and minimal. Touch of Grace Jones about the (almost spoken) vocal which obviously doesn't help to normalise things. Super stuff but possibly a lacking the ultimate punch with it's stripped back style not allowing a peak. [TEN]
A2: House. Lovely subtlety to the sounds and beats in this beguiling track. Which makes it slightly at odds with the more aggressive than sensual "Ride me, ride me baby" refrain that arrives half way through. It's still intensely captivating but the vocal makes it less dreamily comfortable. [TEN]
B1: Techno. Starts with some seriously engaging beats that had me hooked immediately and some nice long chords. After the first breakdown the track really emerges with a lively piano loop and more bass synths. No immense progression just a tweaking of the harmonious layers. Really lovely Techno a la Vince Watson. [TEN]
B2: Techno (Chordy). Starts off with Plaid like beats but there's a darkness to the bass tones like Mills' Metropolis. Then the strings arrive like clouds in heaven and i'm gone. I'm in my happy place and this track can happily play forever. This is the side to Techno that not enough people have heard. Techno you could play making love, going to sleep, at a funeral or in the basement of a back street club. Perfection. [PlaTENum]
C: (Uncategorised). I normally start by nominating a genre but here it's impossible. It's just too slow for Techno and while it's got piles of electro influences it isn't strictly that either. Some might even call it house given it's significant vocal and pace. What i can say is I have no doubt that no matter what genre you find your pigeon hole located you will enjoy this. Sensational vocal, dark glitchy, grimy beats, menacing electronic piano loops. Full of idea's with gravity altering atmosphere and confidence. [GOLDTEN]
D1: Techno. Inauspicious start with some fast gravelly beats. But about three minutes in the track takes shape with a simple stabbing piano loop. The beats get agitated into life by an LFO and a sawing baseline is thrown into the pot. When all parts of the mix are at full steam it really is superb and a match for anything on this release but it's really is greater than the sum of it's parts because when one of these ingredients in removed from the musical soup it gets rather bland very quickly. [NINE]
D2: Electronic: For all that is great about Kompakt, those who are familiar will encounter releases that are quirky noise-fests that fall short on melody, coherence and interest. This isn't as bad as those but is a really disappointing way to end what is easily one of the best 2XLP's i own. [FOUR]

And because I want you to own this and not just take my word for it here is another review, this time by: Andy Kellman.

After Love, Dirk Leyers and Matias Aguayo's debut album, follows a number of compilation appearances and a pair of 12" singles for the Kompakt label. Like their previously released material (some of which can be found here), the album offers a blend of kling-klanging electro/industrial-tinged techno minimalism and achingly melodic tech-house. Some songs are instrumental and others feature the vocal stylings of Aguayo, who always sounds as if he recorded his takes while preening in front of a mirror. The album's central piece, "You Don't Know Me," is a sinister and rather funny (this is a compliment) rewrite of "My Favorite Things." Over a slithering, sleazy groove, Aguayo runs through a number of things he likes. Instead of cream-colored ponies and schnitzel, the vocalist likes to eat fresh fruit and hear the sound of his voice. He also enjoys shaving, smelling himself, and licking his lips. In "Closer Dancer," Aguayo carries a similar air of seduction, hardly raising his voice above whispering level as if he's working his magic on a prospective one-night stand. And then, later on, in "Ride," it seems he succeeded in bedding the object of his affection. Most of the productions resemble relaxed, slowed-down takes on the electronic body music of D.A.F. and the sub-aquatic electro-techno buzz of early Drexciya. (D.A.F. and Drexciya on a combination of Ritalin and Spanish Fly might be a good way of summing up most of the album.) The gliding "Departures," reprised from 2001's Total 3 compilation on Kompakt, is probably the least-representative track on the album, but it's too gorgeous to not mention. It has to be one of the sweetest, most beautifully melancholic tracks since Aril Brikha's "Otill." ~ Andy Kellman