SHRUBBN!! - Europa

Europa, the second album from Shrubbn!!, the duo of Ulli Bomans (Schieres) and Marco Haas (T. Raumschmiere), displays a map of Europe on it's cover, as might be expected from the title. The song titles on Europa also draw from the inexhaustible riches of the dialects and villages. From a musical perspective, this record is like an amazing journey through a Europe that is fed by more than just numbers, tables and statistics. Unlike it's predecessor Echos (STRIKE 136LP, 2012), which represented something rather hidden and gloomy, Europa changes direction towards land and people. All the tracks on Europa are named after cities. "Elk" is the sound of the universe screeching as it lands on earth. With saw-toothed flowers and an utterly beautiful intro, the universe finally lands on the lost Alp. "Lom" is cubist electronics over a dense beat. "Eskilstuna", somewhere in Scandinavia, sounds something like snow and rock crystal. One melody after another sits between the round and beautifully layered chord pads. "Vovchans'ki" is a typical track from the Europa phase - A European yearning for the avant-gardist of 1922, modern and extremely brilliant. "Äthäri" sees Schieres and T. Raumschmiere manoeuver through snapshots, waves and highways in a meadow from elsewhere. "Anenii Noi" is a fantastic Shrubbn!! track that still breathes the spirit of Echos. It has a wonderful delayed beat, painted in tonal drums. With "Mondragon", a European spirit is conjured again, one that is much freer and more beautiful, and seems lost for nearly 100 years - crashing layers of melodies and clear sounds of a modern age from the past. "Shumen", previously called "Kolarowgrad", wanders from A to B. "Freistritz an der Gail" is composed of sound. Shrubbn!! builds a wall-of-sound out of hisses, synth teeth and flashes of genius. "Drunen" and "Nöo" are sort of downbeat, but definitely beat. Very dream-like and beautiful. "Nea Koroni" sounds a bit like the Alps and the mountains and valleys and meadows and bells. Shrubbn!! go through "Hrafnagil" and leave the listener in "Leirbotn". If the previous album Echos can be described as a profoundly intense journey through spaces and depths, reverb and shaft, Europa warms up like a dream landscape of earth and clay. The tracks have their own dialects; they are either coming from or traveling to someplace. There are colorations and stories told. Record Label: Shitkatapult Style: Electronic / Ambient