ZEMENT - PASSAGEN (Crazysane Records)
ZEMENT, consisting of Philipp Hager (guitar, synthesizer, bass, saxophone, organ, vocals) & Christian Büdel (drums, percussion), is back with their fourth album PASSAGEN, which takes listeners on a fascinating sonic journey. Produced once again by the same team that made their last album ROHSTOFF so special, their new album PASSAGEN dives even deeper into their unique sound and art world, which stands on its own! Recorded by Florian Helleken at Hersbrooklyn Recordings, mixed by Lolo Blümler at Iron Bar Studios, and mastered by Chris Hielscher at Subsounddistortion, PASSAGEN promises to build upon the band's signature fusion of sounds. Combined with the stunning artwork and design by Sabrina Zeltner and Philipp Dittmar from the design office Complex Pleasures, PASSAGEN takes the listener on a journey into the unique cosmos of ZEMENT.
With influences from the early electronic works of Kraftwerk and the hypnotic repetitions of the Krautrock legends Neu! and CAN, combined with newer variations of experimental electronic rock music, ZEMENT has created a unique hybrid sound that feels both nostalgic and futuristic. The rhythms swirl and synthesizers still whirl. Combined with psychedelic fuzzy guitars, cosmic saxophone sounds, and pulsating drums and percussions, the music factory ZEMENT delivers a new hot sound with a psych-pop twist that feels like it originated right by the East River. Inspired by artists from the New York downtown scene of the past and present, such as John Zorn and Sonic Youth or LCD Soundsystem and Animal Collective, and artists from the new London jazz scene like Comet is Coming, ZEMENT dives even deeper with their new album PASSAGEN into an eclectic mix of contemporary electronic dance music, combined with influences from jazz, psychedelia, noise, and no-wave sounds, always with the awareness of where their musical roots lie.
To make it even more exciting: PASSAGEN has become a concept album in which words find more space than ever in the band's history. Inspired by the works of authors like Mark Fisher and Walter Benjamin, the latest work tells a coming-of-age story of a person searching for a new life, a new self in a new place, questioning the world we live in and refusing to let bitterness win. PASSAGEN is a loose narrative, a stream of consciousness, where songs with lyrics complement purely instrumental pieces. Reflection and articulation meet the euphoria of free improvisation and the catharsis of the dance floor. Free your mind and your ass will follow – and vice versa. It is a journey that the narrator undertakes, out of the paralyzing stagnation and into a space of possibilities.
ZEMENT asks us in the last song of "Passagen": what if we exchanged the "ghosts" of our present and past for a "holy ghost" of a better life? Albert Ayler and John Coltrane nod knowingly from the clouds at this question. A livable future needs transcendence, something that can be learned from spiritual jazz and free jazz and finds resonance on "Passagen". Perhaps "Acid Communism" will come to life not only through psychedelic drugs but also through musical boundary experiences. "This feeling, take it with you", the concluding line of the album, stands exemplarily for this. To feel, perhaps only for a night, an hour, for the length of a song, what a livable future could feel like – thus the music of ZEMENT creates a temporary utopian zone in the here and now. From here, it is possible to think further, to speak further, to feel further. Best done together with others.
ZEMENT continues with their work and the experience of building a music factory that combines elements of Krautrock, psychedelic rock, noise rock, and contemporary electronic dance music with the cosmic spirit of free and spiritual jazz and its polyrhythmic pulse. The result is an incredibly rich spectrum of sounds that contain a pulsating energy. Fans of contemporary acts like Föllakzoid, LCD Soundsystem, Trans Am, and CAVE or even Caribou and Animal Collective will also feel at home with PASSAGEN.
After the success of their third album "Rohstoff", PASSAGEN will propel Zement's exploration of sound even further! The endless meditation on the architecture of the mind and the movement of the body continues! Join us on this journey!
As a special guest, HOLZ will be there to open the evening.
Somewhere at the zero point, where the heat tastes like embers and the retina sparks, someone has poured gasoline on the fire. It etches, creaks, and hisses.
Wood burns.
HOLZ, on the other hand, reduces the entire thing to ashes.
HOLZ is Hamburger Schule, stoner, and grunge. They describe familiar situations and feelings of everyday life without being too prescriptive, full of well-known observations of the world, everyday miniatures about the strangeness of life. So don’t believe what others tell you. Rather, listen.
The sound? Is knotted and loves madness. Wants to explode. Has someone got fire?
HOLZ consists of Leonard Riegel (guitar/vocals), Martin Nickel (drums), and Maik Blümke (bass). Founded in 2011, at some point imploded, now back again.
Within the past year, HOLZ has recorded a new album in collaboration with Stephan Grujic (Mottek/Sonny Vincent). Ten songs that make you want to lick batteries. Aggressive and angry, yet without malice or bitterness. Driving, without getting lost.
Recorded live, the album captures the force that HOLZ unleashes at their concerts. A shockwave for the audience, energy that sparks and leaves burn holes behind.
Doors open at 8:00 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
