Four veterans instrumentalists of Bavaria’s avant-jazz scene, plus one Martin Gretschmann – a laptop-wielding cohort that added awhole new digital dimension to The Notwist’s recent ‘Neon Golden’ opus – perhaps it’s somewhat natural that this band should appeal so readily to London’s art-tosser crowd. In truth, though, The Notwist deserve so much better. Veering between delicate, glitch-assisted synth-pop treasures and hulking Krautjazz grinders with the impunity of men that have covered a lot of ground in their seven-album career, they belie their crumpled appearance – thinka mildly frazzled bunch of mad professors – with a performance of studied,sharp focus.
Ultimately, though, it’s the power of songwriting that makes The Notwist so seductive. "Have you ever… have you ever felt more messed up?" begs frontman Markus Acher, on the lush strum of ‘One With The Freaks’, the song’s dysfunctional sadness rendered starker through the beautiful simplicity of its presentation.
In truth, no-one’s made music quite this exquisite and stirring sinceNew Order’s ‘Republic’. The Notwist return to these shores in April. Don’t let them remain anyone’s best-kept secret.
Louis Pattison
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