Haujobb
Solutions For A Small Planet
Off Beat (Germany) / Metropolis (USA)

This album is a left-over from 1996, but it was recently released in the US through Metropolis Records, so I thought it might be a good idea to do a review, even if the disk is not brand new anymore. Now you hopefully will find this disk in record stores all over the world.

Haujobb are usually seen as a band playing EBM (electronic body music) and they are probably the ones who can lead this more than ten years old style to a new life. But it's also questionable if they still work within the genre because this disk takes so many influences from other genres, namely the techno genres. However, don't expect a straight-ahead techno disk with a monotone 4/4 beat which could be played at a rave, it is far superior rhythmically. "Intelligent Dance Music" could be used to describe what to expect, but in contrast to most IDM that I've heard, Haujobb have lyrics in most of their songs.

The disk, which was released on CD only, ironically starts with the familiar sound of the needle of a record player set in the groove of a vinyl record, but then the more synthesized sounds start and take you for a ride for over an hour. So the CD is packed with music (unlike many others), so it's value for the money, but somehow this might also be a problem. Because after a while it gets repetitive, all these whicked rhythms and strange bleeping and bubbling sounds. There is not enough focus - or too much - to attract your attention for so long. Another point of criticism is that they try too hard to sound like Lassigue Bendthaus (another great German band, but I haven't heard anything new lately). Perhaps they need to sharpen their edges a bit next time.

But I don't want to say that Haujobb's disk is boring or derivative, because it is not. If you have any interest in rhythmic electronic music, than I would recommended this disk to you.

Copyright © 1997 Lonely Locke