{"title":"Supersempfft","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"metaluna","title":"Metaluna","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe avant-garde Kraut ensemble \u003cstrong\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/strong\u003e laid the foundation for their techno-tropical pop music in 1979 with their debut album \u003cem\u003e\"Roboterwerke.\"\u003c\/em\u003e In 1981, they followed up with the album \u003cem\u003eMetaluna\u003c\/em\u003e, which is now being honored through a re-release on Bureau B.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe group, consisting of Dieter Kolb, Franz Knüttel, and Franz Aumüller, fused global influences, experimental sonic landscapes, and surreal lyrics into a unique sonic cosmos. \u003cem\u003eMetaluna\u003c\/em\u003e stands out with its meandering sequences, unconventional rhythms, and psychedelic songwriting that remains groundbreaking even decades later.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe live in the data-rich days of the Internet age, when globalization and mass communication have trivialized time and space, and fusion is now commonplace. While the entire world’s art and influences stream through your digital consciousness, any odd assemblage of creative diaspora makes just as much sense as the next – another eddy in the grand churn of genre-fluidity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs such, this Bureau B reissue of \u003cem\u003eMetaluna\u003c\/em\u003e is particularly pertinent for a couple of key reasons. Firstly, that this collaborative AV ensemble laid down the template for techno-tropical pop way back in ‘81, an astonishing achievement which broke ground musically, culturally and technologically; and secondly, that the rest of us have finally found them in the future and can at last move in time to their animated groove.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/strong\u003e is at once a star-sailing frog enjoying cartoon chaos around a cosmic Caribbean, and also the multi-disciplinary miscellany of a trio of school friends who never lost that youthful penchant for play. The postmodern project comprised of musical genius, Dieter Kolb, computer whiz Franz Knüttel and the boundlessly creative Franz Aumüller, whose vibrant visuals and surreal lyrics situated their sound in a universe all of its own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOperating out of the basement of Dieter’s parents’ instrument shop, the band began to explore their interests and share their talents with no consideration of a commercial goal. Rejecting rock from the off, Kolb dove into his love of global styles, surfacing only to borrow display models from upstairs which were swiftly modified by Knüttel to reveal bold electronic possibilities beyond their intended use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRecognizing his own shortcomings behind the kit, Knüttel built his own drum machine, \u003cem\u003eRoboterwerke\u003c\/em\u003e, which piqued the interest of Kraftwerk, Herbie Hancock, and Tangerine Dream, and piece-by-piece their kaleidoscopic pop began to coalesce. The industry soon took notice, and a debut album emerged on CBS in ’79, though didn’t score the sales it deserved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the first album, Kolb and Aumüller’s love of reggae and dub took them on a transatlantic trip to Trinidad and Tobago under the false assumption that all the islands stepped to the Jamaican style. Any momentary disappointment was soon dispelled by the liveliness and optimism of calypso and soca, and a life affirming experience at carnival left them awestruck and inspired.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBack home, they began work on \u003cem\u003eMetaluna\u003c\/em\u003e, a wild combination of roving sequences, tropical rhythms, squashed brass, and yearning vocals which sprints, skanks and soars through ten triumphant tracks. Amid the metallic beats and interplanetary idents lurk sublime melodies and soulful motifs, psychedelic songwriting reminiscent of Barrett, Beefheart, or Brian Wilson at their best.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn their dubbier moments, \u003cstrong\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/strong\u003e sound like Lee Perry jamming on an alien console, with wild panning and delirious FX suggesting a sound clash on a distant planet. Meanwhile, the arcade exuberance, vocoder gospel, and space-age ballads predate the sweltering synth-pop of The Knife, Hot Chip, and Ariel Pink by a full two decades, setting a bar that their successors still fail to meet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEven if you expect the unexpected, there’s still room for one looney tune to take you by surprise as the jazzy \u003cem\u003e“Farewell Goodbye”\u003c\/em\u003e sinks the Cole Porter songbook in the nearest wormhole. Innovative, experimental yet still heavy on the hooks, \u003cem\u003eMetaluna\u003c\/em\u003e is both a jubilant expression of its creators’ tastes and a masterclass in mercurial pop - a success of self-expression which proves once again that the best bands play for themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bureau B","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50394879885643,"sku":"2056577","price":30.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50394879689035,"sku":"2056563","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/BB438LP_fe7d934b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726449421"},{"product_id":"roboterwerke","title":"Roboterwerke","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter introducing us to the techno-tropical pop of \u003cstrong\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/strong\u003e via an essential reissue of their stargazing sophomore LP \u003cem\u003e‘Metaluna’\u003c\/em\u003e, those surefooted folks at Hamburg’s Bureau B beam back a couple of years to bring us the Hessen outfit’s outrageous debut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe collaborative vehicle careers through the cosmos like a high-performance clown car, disguising daring chord progressions, technical innovation, and a heap of hooks behind its cartoon chassis, and taking us lucky listeners along for the joyride.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOperating at the unlikely nexus between creative studio and sixth form common room, and fusing all the expertise of the former with commercial disinterest of the latter, \u003cstrong\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/strong\u003e served as the multidisciplinary moniker for a trio of childhood friends whose separate skills combined perfectly for their high-concept high jinks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe prodigious musical talent of Dieter Kolb, augmented and elevated by Franz Knüttel’s electronic innovation, provided the ideal medium for Franz Aumüller’s wacky world-building, which made up the lyrical thrust and visual flair of the project.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eRoboterwerke\u003c\/em\u003e’, both the name of this 1979 LP and the revolutionary drum machine created by Knüttel, tells the story of a mellow tuba-toting frog (apparently an avatar of Kolb), who is technologically transformed by a mad scientist (a Professor Knüttels, as it happens) into a star-surfing superhero.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo far, so far out - especially considering the lurid, lysergic lunacy of the comic book cover art – but this slapstick silliness also serves as sleight of hand, a daft disguise to keep these sublime sounds away from the squares.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe titular opener offers an astral ascent, its cinematic sequences sweeping between Berlin School technique and an electronic apache, setting the scene in a galaxy far far away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s always cocktail hour somewhere in the cosmos, and “\u003cem\u003eWe Found Out\u003c\/em\u003e” finds our heroes lounging on a Venusian beach, tapping their toes to a bobbing bassline and indulging in interplanetary exotica ideally zoot-suited for the YMO crowd.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/strong\u003e serve their third style in as many songs with two-part tone poem “\u003cem\u003eFantasia \u0026amp; Pipedreams On A Lilypad\u003c\/em\u003e”, a pastoral idyll which echoes gently across a lake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnchored by Ali Schadeberg’s lyrical acoustic fretwork, the piece drifts between the softer fringes of prog and the psychedelic folk of Shuggie Otis, celebrating amphibian autonomy on a sunny day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis calm comes to an abrupt end via the hydraulic funk of “\u003cem\u003eLet’s Beam Him Up\u003c\/em\u003e”, an oddball pop masterpiece turbo-powered by the wild and wonky rhythms of \u003cem\u003eRoboterwerke\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe B-side opens with the widescreen synth-pop of “\u003cem\u003eI’m Gonna Make You Big\u003c\/em\u003e”, a sky-scraping combination of rubberized bass, electronic gurgle, and open-hearted croon which makes the following year’s ‘\u003cem\u003eMcCartney II\u003c\/em\u003e’ sound ordinary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts modulating vocals soon segue into the seesawing sequences and rolling robo-funk of “\u003cem\u003eBe A Man You Frog\u003c\/em\u003e”, a digital dreamscape that gradually unspools into the heart of a wormhole.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGiddy and glorious, space-age calypso “\u003cem\u003eSupersempfft\u003c\/em\u003e” foreshadows the group’s follow-up LP, while “\u003cem\u003eOut Of Time\u003c\/em\u003e” is a delirious disco hustle about intergalactic flight on a giant butterfly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll of which leads to the tuba-infused “\u003cem\u003eThe Best Thing Is To Get High\u003c\/em\u003e”, an impish ode to altered states that brings this journey to a perfectly playful close.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDon’t be misled, there’s no amount of sensory boosts, terrestrial or otherwise, which can compete with the creative talent oozing through these grooves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bureau B","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50455048290635,"sku":"2205274","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50455045570891,"sku":"2205264","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_d385d5d9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727187781"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/supersempfft.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}