- The latest 12" by pioneering Frankfurt live PA duo Der Dritte Raum offers a loose-limbed if lacklustre set of pieces, grafting jerky knob twiddling onto basic minimal structures. 'Plutonium' pits sparse, chunky bits against heavy drums, the roughness offset by bright Modernist-ic tone flurries and a breakdown made of marimbas and water droplets. The dark low end drone underneath drives the whole thing forward, lending a touch of enticing menace to an otherwise by-rote tool. Overleaf 'Willi Muller' tries to inject a bit of life into the formulaic programming with an off-putting, snaking growl, but the bassline, ludicrously simple yet deliciously funky in that distinct D3R fashion, saves this from the scrap heap. The final 'Aquamarin' sends liquid chords trickling around understated electro patterns, with busy hats and John Carpenter arpeggios harking back to the group's nineties roots and offering a welcome change of pace. Overall, these are undemanding cuts from able producers – ‘Hale Bopp’ they are not.
TracklistA Plutonium
B1 Willi Müller
B2 Aquamarin