Dollkraut - Schimanski's Black Lullabies

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  • Creatively, there is no defending Pascal Pinkert, AKA Dollkraut. In a year that has seen brilliant, future-mapping albums from, to name but two, Perc and Aphex Twin, his ultra-nostalgic dance music sounds facile. In these painstaking historic recreations—all analogue and at times bathed in corroded C90 sound quality—the Dutchman isn't even breaking new ground in the dusty musical genres that he riffs on. Library and lounge music, rare funk 7-inches, the Radiophonic Workshop, '70s world music, early hip-hop and electro, the film soundtracks of John Barry and Ennio Morricone—this is all stuff that has already been mined for inspiration by everyone from Mo' Wax to Finders Keepers. There are flashes of creative free-thinking here, such as "Zaghrouta," a strange and borderline cheesy mix of heavyweight samba and Arabic strings, but, for the most part, Schimanski's Black Lullabies is nothing you haven't heard before. Yet, for all that, I cannot help like it. A bit. At an inconsequential level. Pinkert's homage to his own record collection is executed with such skill and melodic facility that it's difficult to resist this faux-archive material. The vocoder-led electro track "The Scene" and various stylistic variations on "La Banda Dello Scorpione" have a certain silly charm. Likewise, it's impossible to not get suckered in by the West African funk homage "Amadou," or to reminisce about Harold Faltermeyer, Mantronix and the Art Of Noise as you play "Theme Of Fukoyama" or "NSFW." Ultimately, however, this trip down memory lane just isn't that rewarding. It's junk food—a feast of empty calories which, soon after, leaves you hungry for something more substantial.
  • Tracklist
      01. Intro ("Too much for one guy") 02. Rollercoaster 03. La Banda Dello Scorpione - SEQ. 6 04. The Stars And You 05. NSFW 06. Fire 07. Interlude ("Get in the car") 08. Zaghrouta (Part 1) 09. The Scene 10. Amadou Ft. Bafana 11. Theme Of Fukoyama 12. La Banda Dello Scorpione - SEQ. 7 13. Yushkevic 14. La Banda Dello Scorpione - SEQ. 2 15. Outro ("I won't be here when you get back")
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