After his EP 'Speicher' let quite a few of the Phonocake listeners soar in the heights of (somber) bliss, Trans Alp comes back for more. His EP 'Strom' features 5 tracks, again possessing plenty of potential to speed up a music lovers heart rate. Each of the tracks follows a basic musical idea, each of those being quite comprehensible. The simple, loping and hopeful melody of the first track 'Krauwt' starts out promising enough, before it conjoints with a heavy, irregular beat around minute 3, building up the atmosphere to the EP to come. Traces of optimism will quickly leave you in the 'Lied der Bergarbeiter' (miners song), where drums like on a slave galley bring you down, pulling you deep beneath the earth to create a somber surrounding like youd probably have it in a dark, sweat-smelling mine only. You can positively hear the hammering, the work deep beneath the ground and the faint clicks of metal hitting stone when embarking onto the lorry taking us through the mountains. It gets more playful and ambient during 'Sternzwirn' (star twine). The fourth track, 'Rück', was created with the plucked string synthesizer Mutant Koto, imparting a rather unique sound. Finally, 'Melo' is built up and down again continuously to give the EP a contemplative ending with a few well-placed experiments.
Reviewer: Framan -
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January 1, 2008 Subject: Go straight to track 4 I couldn't get into the whole album. Maybe it was the mood I was in at the time. Then track 4 emanated from my speakers and pricked my ears. This track pulls the rest of the album together.
