Bavarian band Notwist ramps up intensity
On record, the Notwist offer warm, wistful indie-pop suffused with electronic textures and beats, balancing catchy arrangements with a sparse intimacy. In performance, however, the intensity rises and the Bavarian band brings the rock - as well as skronky
On record, the Notwist offer warm, wistful indie-pop suffused with electronic textures and beats, balancing catchy arrangements with a sparse intimacy. In performance, however, the intensity rises and the Bavarian band brings the rock - as well as skronky jazz blasts and techno-dub inversions. Their bravura display at the First Unitarian Church on Tuesday (as a two-guitar five-piece) included all elements through 90 minutes, everything clicking by the well-received second song, "Pick Up the Phone," off 2002's breakthrough album,
Neon Golden
.
Brothers Markus (vocals, guitar, turntable) and Micha Acher (bass) founded the Notwist almost two decades ago in their native Weilheim, Germany, inspired by related American underground rock acts like Dinosaur Jr. and Minor Threat.
What's remarkable is how seamlessly earlier eras of the band have been integrated with their daring electronic side. On stage Tuesday, an array of circuitry-produced pings, bleeps and squooshes was deftly manipulated by specialist Martin "Console" Gretschmann. His gentle throbs set the delicate mood for the lullaby-ish "Sleep" from the new
The Devil, You + Me
album as Markus Acher sang softly in accented English. During lively tunes, Gretschmann presented the latest dynamic in laptop showmanship, vigorously dancing while "playing" the computer with a Wii remote control in each hand.
Also deserving mention is the tight half-hour opening set from the Notwist's Minneapolis-based tourmates, Dosh. Alternating between his Fender Rhodes keyboard and drum kit while looping, processing and layering each, namesake Martin Dosh built up what sounded initially like lush ambient jams into driving, highly engaging pieces of propulsive jazz-tronica. Best were opener "Wolves" (title track of his fourth album, out now on progressive hip-hop label Anticon) and closer "Um, Circles and Squares." Both numbers featured cohort Mike Lewis spitting rhythmic lines of buoyant sax into the mix.
Dosh also orchestrated the night's most nakedly human number, albeit via more modern gadgetry. Enlisting the enthusiastic crowd to help him through some marital difficulty as a result of being absent for a key date, he made a cell-phone connection home and led several hundred in singing "Happy Birthday" to his wife.