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GRAUZONE 1981 GRAUZONE - EISBAER GRAUZONE, quatres suisses et un synthé |
Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits (US), June 2011 So Likewise (US), May 2011 Music Without Borders (F), April 2011 |
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| > deutschsprachige Rezensionen > german-language reviews translated by google | |||
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GRAUZONE 1981 | Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits (US), June 2011 | ||
| This album is incredible. It's definitely on the more rhythmic side of punk or new wave, so much so that it could easily be considered dance music. The first track "Film 2" might as well be a techno song. This album is so ahead of it's time, it's no wonder that there are only 100 ratings as I type this. I'd think that a band going out of their way to create something so "forward," with electronics mixed seamlessly with what you'd find in any punk album, would end up creating something a bit more difficult to get, but this album comes of to me as a darker version of what John Foxx was doing. It's in need of another reissue. - Matthew Foster "The fact that Grauzone tried to find a new way of expression by stepping away from standard guitar-dominated punk but didn't have unlimited musical abilities made them angry. That combined with an anger about a society that's even more stagnant seemed to have created the atmosphere for the album. A track like "Film 2" (with vocals so unobtrusive it could almost be called an instrumental) is minmal techno/electro/disco as well as postpunk/wave and even has a touch of dub. The synth-arpeggio (don't really hear a bass here) sounds threatening, the beat keeps going while some percussive hits and what sounds like a harmonica are like a horrorfilm version of Jamaica-sounds. Then that guitar joins like a keyboard-motif by John Carpenter, completing the song. And rhythmically it's just damn tight. For that matter the track's been played by famous cosmic Disco-DJ Baldelli back in the eighties by the way. Not many bands would chose such a tune as an opener for their full length album... Followed by the song "Schlachtet" - one of the three best tunes on the LP. I listened to that song recently while the tv news were on. Comments about Hartz IV (state funded poverty in germany) combined with pictures of what I see around me everyday and then lines like "Die Kranken werden geschlachtet, die Welt wird gesund" ("The sick will be butchered, the world will be well") left quite an impression. "Hinter den Bergen" sounds like Dark Wave with a dubby touch (a bit similar to the effect Bauhaus achieved with "Bela Lugosi's dead"). "Kunstgewerbe" is another cool, short & minimalistic piece of electronic music. "Der Weg zu zweit" always reminded me of Abwärts. "In der Nacht" is the very abstract end of the album. Again the vocals are mixed much in the background with reverb floating around the track." | |||
| DJ_Phoney | |||
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GRAUZONE - EISBAER | So Likewise (US), May 2011 | ||
| Alternately floating in the detached synth-pop motorik cold and embroiled in nervy agit-industrial anxiety, Swiss new wave outfit GRAUZONE occupied but a brief moment, playing ten gigs, releasing a few singles and an LP; nevertheless, they left a distinct impression upon the "Neue Deutsche Welle" movement, due in no small part to their 1981 debut single "EISBAER" (means "polar bear"). This track and every other have been recently remastered and compiled on "GRAUZONE 1980-1982 REMASTERED". | |||
| David Chadwick | |||
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GRAUZONE, quatres suisses et un synthé | Music Without Borders (F), April 2011 | ||
| Si vous ne connaissez pas GRAUZONE, ce n'est pas parce que vous avez de grosses lacunes musicales rassurez-vous, mais parce que GRAUZONE a joui d'une carrière musicale fulgurante. En 1980, le groupe suisse se forme. Pour se séparer en 1982. Quatuor dans l'air du temps, il décide d'emprunter les chemins de la NDW, la 'Neue Deutsche Welle'. Comprendre la nouvelle vague allemande : une instrumentalisation très froide et une musique très robotique, le tout en langue allemande. Sauf que GRAUZONE, ce n'est pas qu'un groupe qui suit la mode. C'est un groupe dans l'entre deux, comme son nom l'indique. GRAUZONE, zone grise, s'immisce entre les genres. Nous sort des sons punks, minimalistes, expérimentaux, rocks, sombres. En deux ans de carrière, quatre singles, un album et dix concerts, les jeunes helvètes ont surtout crevé les écrans et les ondes radio avec LE titre auquel on les réduit toujours, EISBAER. Le synthé et la voix du chanteur reflètent la froideur de l'univers d'un ours polaire. Des paroles certes simplistes («je voudrais être un ours polaire, comme ça je n'aurais plus à pleurer, tout serait enfin clair. Les ours polaires ne doivent jamais pleurer»), mais un rythme et une recherche musicale impressionnante. Outre la thématique Pôle Nord évidente, autre surprise, l'interprète : Martin Eicher. Si son nom ne vous dit rien, celui de son frère - que l'on retrouve au synthé - peut-être plus : Stéphane. Stéphane Eicher. Celui-là même qui des années plus tard perçait en France avec Déjeuner en Paix et autres tubes. Pour les fans de GRAUZONE, il est encore temps de se ruer dans les bacs, le double CD 'GRAUZONE 1980-1982 REMASTERED' est sorti fin 2010. Avec 21 chansons remasterisées, dont trois jamais publiées, c'est toute la carrière du groupe que vous tiendrez entre les mains. | |||
| Agathe Moret | |||
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