Kontakte – We Move Through Negative Spaces
Kontakte , a band we first saw via their debut mini – Soundtracks To Lost Movies , have cranked it up a notch with their latest release. Previously their brand of post rock belonged to the ‘competent but anonymous’ variety, a brand that they would have been doomed to share with countless other acts. Here it fizzes and sparkles a little more. We Move Through Negative Spaces sounds much more confident. The self-belief is evident right from the opening swell of ‘Astralagus’, a track Lights Out Asia wouldn’t be unhappy to add to their canon. Kontakte, it seems, have shed their inhibitions.
‘Hope…’ is the archetypal post-rock builder treading ground that would not seem unfamiliar to fans of Explosions In The Sky . ‘With Glowing Hearts’ sounds like Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’, slowed down, instrumental and in the hands of Mogwai . However ‘Early Evening Bleeds Into Night’ is the moment Kontake stop sounding a little like a lot of other bands and start sounding a lot like Kontakte. Sure it’s still a blend, IDM beats, Icelandic glockenspiel and a brooding, rumbling symphony that could’ve easily fallen off the last God Is An Astronaut record. But it’s them now. Kontakte, despite their lack of words, have found a voice.
What really makes this record is the variety and the quality on display. The sound of it is note perfect with bass particularly warm and satisfying. Sure they run the gamut of many of the name bands, and not only restricted to post-rock either. (Isn’t ‘A Snowflake In Her Hand’ a bit Spiritualized ?) Show me bands who aren’t influenced by other bands and I’ll show you a very small list. Besides, who else is doing it this well? So who cares if ‘The Owls Won’t See Us In Here’ is a Jeniferever piece in the hands of A Silver Mount Zion with Bitcrush pitching in on programming. The album may sound like a compilation but it’s a high quality one at that.
Drifting Falling is a fine label. Here’s hoping this Kontakte record might be the breakthrough that they deserve. The band play us out with ‘The Ocean Between You and Me’, an epic that owes something to ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’. Then again, what doesn’t? In any case, who are Mogwai anyway? A bunch of jocks who’ve made a ten year career out of playing ‘Three Blind Mice’ in the style of The Cure , Slint and Slowdive . (I’m only joking.)
I’m not joking actually. It’s just music isn’t it! You should want to play it and enjoy it. We Move Through Negative Spaces ticks both boxes.