The Kompakt-distributed Magazine Records third release, its first full-length, is also the first time the long-running Cologne percussive group Drums Off Chaos have been put to tape in thirty years. They're joined in collaboration with Jens-Uwe Beyer, who supplies ambient strains of melody and low-end that seamlessly rides the utterly hypnotic pulses emitting from these four ten-minute tracks.
For the unacquainted: Drums Off Chaos began in the early 80s with Jaki Liebezeit, Reiner Linke, Maf Retter, and has revolved around those same central characters. And a central concept: sustained, interlocking beats, performed on drums of their own making.
In that strain of musical theory that runs from Cage to punk, they place the value of their creative output on live performance rather than recorded tracks, so for those who've never had the chance to see them live, this new release is a rare opportunity.
Here's track three, “Second Half”, where string and bass pads conjure both baile funk and desert movie scores in the same two bar phrase as re-purposed pop vocal tracks intercede and Drums Off Chaos reigns.
Stream it below. The release will be available from Magazine on March 7.
