Title: In Sturm und Leben
Artist: PandiqueGenre: Electro Pop
Release Date: 22nd May 2009
Label: Echozone (Bob Media)
Album Review
PANDIQQUE needed quite some time for the creation of a successor to the album ‘Weltenklang’ which has been released in 2004 and gained good to very good critics. Now everything’s wrapped up and the second PANDIQUE album with the title ‘In Sturm und Leben’ soon will be available at your favourite record dealer or online shop.
As many other albums too, ‘In Sturm und Leben’ starts with an instrumental introduction, here with the title ‘Into our Hearts’ that ends up as a full-grown down tempo song created from loops appearing one after another. ‘Drei Jahreszeiten’ brings us the first vocalized track opening with distorted industrial patterns. A straight club beat follows and then spherical pads pile up shortly before the German chant comes in. In lyrical and elegant style the song talks about the changing of seasons with an agreeable and somehow always androgynous sounding voice. With ‘I Don’t Care’, an English-tongued song is coming up now with a rhythm pattern that I heard only once so far and that is in the SEABOUND track ‘The Promise’. Here it’s overlaid with a few effects. A few seconds later a maiming club beat takes control and displaces it almost completely. Again it’s a very melodic song but this time with male and a few female vocals.
‘Wo der Wind weht’ brings us back to German and opening with manipulated sounds with a piano melody in the following. The rhythm section is a very interesting thing again rousing attention with its detailed and eclectic sound. Through the vocals of singer Thorsten gloom resonates and is transported directly to you. ‘Stadt im Wandern’ again holds very proper pummelling beats for the listener and synth layers equalling grey clouds are drifting through it. On ‘Kleine Lüge’ the project’s utilizing a rhythm with a noticeable drum’n’bass impact to support its floating melodies. At the end of the disc ACCESSORY and ENDANGER each offer one rendition of tracks out off the band’s work. The ENDANGER take on ‘Wolke 7’, a track released on a Web EP in 2005, with its old-school influenced sound style is clearly my favourite. It’s not too simple in structure yet still works for the clubs.
Through the lyrical quality alone PANDIQUE already set themselves apart from many of the Future Pop releases nowadays. As they’re also not entirely relying on beaten and overused structures people who normally give the Future Pop genre a wide berth could find pleasure in the works of these two guys as well.
Tracklist
01. Into our Hearts - 3:12
02. Drei Jahreszeiten - 4:55
03. I don't Care - 5:33
04. 1000 Mütter - 4:59
05. Wo der Wind weht - 4:31
06. Lovesong - Upgrade - 6:02
07. Toter Stein - 4:56
08. Empathy - 4:23
09. Stadt im Wandern - 4:54
10. Kleine Lüge - 4:44
11. Lovesong - 5:26
12. Toter Stein (Accessory Remix) - 4:31
13. Wolke 7 (Endanger Remix) - 5:05
Line-up
Thorsten Berschuck – Lyrics, Vocals, Co-Production
Torsten Kreissl – Lyrics, Music, Production
Website
http://www.pandique.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/pandique
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Extras: -
Total: 7 / 10
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