Cassette only, limited edition of 200 copies. Elektro Guzzi are an Austrian trio: Bernhard Breuer (drums), Bernhard Hammer (guitar) and Jakob Schneidewind (bass). Signed to Berlin’s Macro label, they play and record live – however their sound is not what you might be expecting from such a traditional band line-up…
Macro’s Finn Johannsen writes: “Live performances of electronic music have gone a long way since the seminal decision of a few men from Düsseldorf to leave their Krautrock beginnings behind and to become machines. Since then, the list of successors is epic and technologically refined in the process: from the musicians who on stage incorporated electronics into their post punk aesthetics to today’s laptop PAs blurring the lines between performance and DJ set in a club context. Of course the evolution of according concepts also proceeded in reverse, with electronic musicians implementing their sound into traditional band structures, and performing their music as modern interpretations of the latter, combining the sounds of the according analogue and digital equipment.
Taking all this into consideration, Elektro Guzzi from Vienna are none of the above, which is exactly why Macro didn’t hesitate to sign them. Though their sound most certainly suggests that Bernhard Hammer, Jakob Schneidewind and Bernhard Breuer also decided to become machines, they strangely enough don’t use any (it took several confirmations in mails and personal meetings and a rehearsal video to convince that they don’t).
As digital as they may sound, they couldn’t be more analogue, producing and performing with the most classic of all setups: bass, guitar, and drums. But however traditional they may look as a band, they certainly do not sound like one. They produce and perform like any modern electronic producer and performer wanting that every element of a track is exactly where it is intended to be. There is no computer backup material they prepared earlier, no loops and things, no overdubs. However hard it is to believe, what you hear is 100% live.”
Elektro Guzzi write: “We recorded “Circling Above” in January this year. After two years of finding material for The Tapeworm, we finally agreed on these three tracks. We were searching for material which fits to the format, concerning sound and structure of the tracks. We had never done something for tape but, as you may know, we love the analogue way of doing music…” Elektro Guzzi, Vienna, 13th April 2013.