Search - Kunstler Treu :: My Sketchbook of Whack

Künstler Treu shares his doodles - you'll be glad he did.

02/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the kind of Sketchbook which if discovered posthumously would set the critics to deconstructing everything which came previously. Many areas of music-past are remined for new gold. Plump yet crisp percussion can be heard rolling under furniture-sized bass lines as if spring-cleaning has begun in the Capitol. Guitars are used minimally yet dramatically...always cathartic and melodically enhancing. Samples and lyrics are always interesting and subservient to the whole. The album begins as your ship pulls into the foggy harbor where church bells are heard from under the blankets; you step on the shores of freedom at low tide. Standing in the waves, legs still rubbery, Low on Sugar pulls you ashore, delicious decadence filled with desire and doubt. You can smell the Sugarcane burning in the midnight fields as lovers roll in the sticky ashes. Next, Poara Nuestros Creativos, a very insistent wooden rhythm with more elastic bass and horns which wash slowly to shore behind you as you make your way towards the city lights...calm yet relentless. Uriella, which is a standout track, simply must be heard. I could go on describing each track that follows but, ultimately I would keep repeating, "I love this track..." There is not a bad tune in the bunch. So, to keep this review fairly short - I really love this album."

Whack or Wacky?

02/07/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kuenstler Treu is one-half of the Berlin electronica duo DAUERFISCH. Having done a few 12-inches and a full-length on the Harvest/EMI label that barely reached the US, the good Kuenstler Treu (German for "artist true") uses found parts on MY SKETCHBOOK OF WHACK, breathing new life into these musical cliches to create a stylish new pop-monster. Favorite tracks are "Who's Your Boogie Beau," "Poara Nuestros Creativos" (featuring samples from a Spanish spoken word self-help record), and the Zappaesque "Low on Sugar." If you like Tipsy, Dipstick or DJ Me DJ You, then Kuenstler Treu is your man..."