Zappa made a statement in his book describing society’s view of instrumental music as “irrelevant”. He goes on to say (I’m paraphrasing) that any band hoping to make it, at least in the Western hemisphere, needs to figure out how to stick a human voice on top of their music.

Well, the golden sounds of Germany’s ROTOR represent the first Elektrohasch disc to hit the doggie mailbox in 2005. The assertive, rich and somewhat angular sounds of this fine Berlin-based instrumental band were clearly crafted far, far away from the fickle western world. Even so, the band found a couple of spots to add some vocals. The opener “On the Run” and the exotic “Erdlicht” both feature the vibrant pipes of singer Behrang Atavi. The latter of these is particularly charming, sung in the Persian language, and shining like a rotating flare, beckoning fans of AMON DÜÜL to come in for closer inspection.

The rest of the disc is a genuine and solid collection of complex jams and brick-wall fuzz rock in the vein of THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX or Switzerland’s MONKEY 3. It’s not surprising to find that the men of ROTOR have been spinning their tight, spacey jams for seven years now, especially upon witnessing the muscular overdrive and stop / start precision of “Supernovo” or the bold proggy rumble of “Kraftfeld”. If you’re a strict garage rock or rockabilly disciple that slumps in their seat whenever a song passes the three-minute mark, then this may not be for you. But fans of accomplished, in-the-pocket grooves and massive jam nirvana should eat this up voraciously. Even the Grand Wazoo would approve.

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: www.rotorotor.de

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Hellway

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.