Hans-Joachim Irmler is a founding member of Faust while Gut Gudrun has a rich background in electronic projects as curator, DJ and performer.
For this album the two mavericks join forces for the first time and it proves to be a fruitful blend of two subtly diverse yet indubitably compatible disciplines.
The title derives from the fact that the recording location was 500 metres above sea level in Faust's studio in Scheer.
Over nine tracks, Gudrun's meticulous programmed drums and her occasional spoken words provide a neat foil to Irmler's less structured organ improvisations.
Thumping bass combines with squalls of processed, and slightly menacing, electro-ambience for a fractured collage of organised noise which is part hard-driving Krautrock and part experimental Berliner techno.
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The opening and closing tracks illustrate the two approaches well. Früh kicks in with a pounding motorik beat while the title track drifts hypnotically as Gudrun, speaking in German, intones sensuously over swirling drone of glitchy bleeps.
All in all, it's an album which draws on the rich heritage of German electronic music yet has enough contemporary edge to be at one with the modern age.
Gudrun Gut's website
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