Review Summary: Chilly Coldwave rarely sounded richer.
Upon receiving an eagerly awaited cassette tape on which I had placed an order a couple days prior, I was filled with a very pleasant sense of acknowledgement. The envelope, containing not only one of the most impressive musical accomplishments of the year, also contained a letter, referring to me by personal name and thanking me for supporting Vlimmer's music.
Now that's just cute.
Subsequently it occurred to me (as it has many times before) how much music of great potential appeal gets washed out in a market more saturated now than it has ever been. And it's really not very fair to Mr. Donat, project mastermind. So being seduced by not only his music many months prior but now too by his delightful concern for whoever happens to be listening, I decided to tell whoever happens to be reading a bit about the new German electronic prodigy Vlimmer and his seventh entry into a twelve part series - my favourite of the bunch.
One convincing reason for just about anyone to dig into this truly well kept secret is that it's a short entry, spanning just over 25 minutes. Another convincing reason - quite bluntly spoken - is "Sonnenschwartz", the second track which after the initial moodsetter opening song bursts out of the speakers like a stern ghost dead set on impact. A clear streak of frigidness amidst the synthesizers and a blunted vocal approach hints to a sort of Coldwave fashion that is honestly quite hard to define. And yet cold, there are many lush arrangements tastefully integrated into every track - from the (literal) trumpeting chords serving as the opening to "Veräußerung" (suggesting still a harrowing sentiment running through the entirety of the EP) to the addition of a gentle slide guitar breaking off the industrial narrative of the slow moving "Grundbuch". There is at times, though, a cinematic touch that might just strike the connoisseur of very minimalist favored Coldwave as off-putting. I'm certainly not discounting myself as part of such a group, but the grace, beauty and intuition with which the soundscapes behave satisfies an itch that still leaves me feeling cold in just the way that I want them to. (Yes, feeling cold is not a negative thing here.) I also can't help feeling that the particularly rigid and gloomy European sound connected to groups like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream at times might have (possibly subconsciously) rubbed off on Mr. Donat's music, as it has on so many other European acts. All the better for it as far as I'm concerned.
Any fan of any scene defined by post-punk influences should find much of value in what Vlimmer is up to. An ambitious, forward thinking and truly captivating plunge into what at times strikes me as an almost separate musical universe. Don't miss out.
