Country : Germany Label : Ipecac Genres and styles : Dark Ambient / Downtempo / Electronic / Jazz Year : 2020

Patchouli Blue

· by Steve Naud

Bohren & Der Club of Gore has always done things in its own way, very slowly. From one album to the next, the band’s sound evolves in a barely perceptible fashion, and the recent departure of the drummer isn’t any more dramatic a change. The remaining trio, made up of Christoph Clöser (tenor saxophone, piano, vibraphone), Morten Gass (keyboards, electric guitar) and Robin Rodenberg (double bass), continues to dig its doom-jazz groove, which has so pleased lovers of melancholic atmospheres soaked in scotch. 

The same saxophone stewed in West Coast jazz (we think once again of Ben Webster and Gerry Mulligan), the same heaviness inherited from the metal the band used to play at its beginnings, the same moods worthy of the film noir of the ’40s, and the same weightless rhythms are there, although this time, the last were entrusted to a drum machine. This softly unfolding darkness always evokes Labradford’s post-rock or Earth’s post-metal. Decidedly, the trio isn’t afraid to do it again.

After a few listens, though, one has to admit that Bohren’s music isn’t quite the same as its previous offerings. Once the ears have become accustomed to the darkness woven by the members of the group, they discover a new glow, a glimmer of hope that gives their unique music a more meditative and less oppressive aspect. Slowly, brushstroke after brushstroke, Bohren & Der Club of Gore have repainted the same crime scene, but with a slightly different perspective.

Latest 360 Content

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Transforming Hiroshima mon amour into contemporary opera: Christian Lapointe and Rosa Lind tell the story

Sparks – MAD!

Sparks – MAD!

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

“Hiroshima, mon amour”: An Evening to Remember

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Peter Murphy – Silver Shade

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel World

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Art of the Line: Klangkarussell’s Euro Vision at SAT

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Festival des Saveurs | Closing With Reggae

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Centroamérica – a powerful docu-play about truth and connection in an age of distance and denial

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Lido Pimienta – La Belleza

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

Tamir Barzilay – Phosphene Journal

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

The best ‘’Candlelight concert‘’ ever.

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

Men I Trust – Equus Caballus

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

The Halluci Nation – Path of the Baby Face

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

A lap steel guitar choir and an angel to end the Innovations en concert 24-25 season

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

The OSM and Abel Selaocoe: Evenings When You’d Like to Stop Time

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Reaching for the sky: Francis Choinière’s challenge to end his OPCM’s 10th season

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Piknic 3: A Little Bit of Everything Under the Sun

Cazzu – Latinaje

Cazzu – Latinaje

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

SMCQ | In memoriam Jocelyn Morlock

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Abbey Road at Festival Classica

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Mira Choquette – Hier encore

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Jared Dunn; Anna Gorecka – Gorecki’s World of the Piano

Subscribe to our newsletter