Bauchklang was the antipodal music within the heavily dominated electronic music climate of the 1990’s. The legendary lounge and coffeehouse sound, which came predominantly out of Vienna and found hold far outside of its borders, was faced with a sonic shift in the early 1990s. From the energetic and pulsating techno-beats came a smoother rhythm, warmer and fuller bass sound, delicately produced break beats and a more accessible style of information channeling. Although this analog-based sound, specific to Vienna, was in the foreground, there was still a shift towards a more natural sound, one that broke away from the immunizing corset of electronic perfection. More often than not the sterile sounds associated with Dub music suffered through the use of endless reverbs and delays, the effects being the fabric from which the music became recognizable, and becoming eventually a trend without impact or originality.
Enter Bauchklang: With their entrance onto the scene a recapturing of a musical style incorporating the tools and trades of the DJ culture and their universal and anonymous beats, bundled into an entirely new, when not most primitive of all instruments, namely that of the human voice. Not only did Bauchklang reproduce most perfectly traditional club sounds, but the line between traditionally produced ”analog” and “digitally” created sounds became blurred into an exclusively vocally created musical soundscape, the likes of which had heretofore never been heard in Austria.
The group originally formed during the production of a school musical in 1995, and by 2001 had come so far to release their debut album, “Jamzero”, a fully a cappella vocal groove project based in urban lifestyle. The musical spectrum of this work spanned the gamut of so-called “black music”: Dubstep, Hiphop, Reggae, Soul, as well as music styles associated with the vocabulary of the club culture, as well as references and influences from Indian music and scales, especially the vocal acrobatics found within that culture’s thousand year old vocal tradition.
The resonance was immense, both within Austria’s borders, as well as across the entire world. The album best newcomer award at the Amadeus Awards in Austria, and an international tour was planned immediately, touching down in Canada, France, and India, where they recorded a live album in 2009 “Live in Mumbai”. With the release of their fourth album in 2010 “Signs” it was clear that the band wasn’t going to stay with a cookie-cutter DJ aesthetic, and that their talent both individually and as a group had evolved into a lyrical, songwriting based music. This move also reflected their evolution with the electronic music scene, which had, by now already moved fully into Minimal Techno.
On their newest release “Akusmatik” Bauchklang shows their furthest reach into the aesthetic of the machine, a combination of the roots of beat boxing and HipHop, their exacting rhythms, scratches and bass grooves combined ideally with a drummer, the mix between “natural” and “unnatural” mixing of sounds, all generated through the voice alone. The contrast is more extreme than ever between the exciting sounds of Techno designed perfection, generated solely through the voice, seems the furthest thing from what could be expected from an a cappella band. The level of perfection and ingenuity is not only the fruits of years of experience and exact live programming, but also the development of the ad-hoc art of live improvisation and in the moment creation; In this way the title of the album “Akusmatik” couldn’t be more pertinent to the band in their entire history than ever before.
As master high rope walkers between parallel worlds of Techno music and A cappella alike, these five Austrians create a most thrilling and unique mixture of soundscapes between worlds which continue to amaze masses of spectators and fans. The use of our most personal instrument, the voice, connects all of us through their music, builds bridges between every time and place, every musical style and continues to be a delectable surprise.
Foto Bauchklang 1: P. Rauchecker
http://www.bauchklang.com/