Von Sudenfed

[23 Daves]

Quite surprised there's not a thread about Von Sudenfed's "Tromatic Reflexxions" album on here yet - out last week, it's possibly the best album I've heard all year so far. 

Now, I know you're going to point the finger of bias in my direction here, because it's a collaboration between Mouse on Mars and Mark E Smith and I am a Fall fan, and Fall fans are not widely known for their impartiality.  To be honest, though, I've found The Fall's recent material quite wearisome and lacking the punch of days of yore, but this really hits the button.  If there's a criticism to be had at all, it's that the album is so relentless and demanding that it's perhaps a bit much for one listen - there should have been a few more "breather" tracks here and there.  But otherwise, it's chock full of techno-dance goodness, and includes one track entitled "The Rhinohead" with Mark E Smith "singing properly" which could almost be a crossover hit if the wind's blowing in the right direction. 

It's a thrill for me to be able to buy an album involving Smith and feel genuinely energised, gobsmacked and excited again.  The first time I put this on, I actually couldn't sleep properly because it was still buzzing in my brain.  Fantastic.

[Anon]

I've only heard the first track of it, "Fleudermaus Can't Get Enough", but I am very much looking forward to hearing the whole thing.  I've also seen the video for it, which is, needless to say, both wonderful and frightening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG-CLFPU6RY

[Malachi Constant]

Yep, its absurdly good in places. Like you I've been a little disappointed with the last couple of Fall albums, the last one I can say I enjoyed unreservedly was The Real New Fall LP. But this Von Sudenfed project sounds like how I wish the Fall sounded like these days. I miss their electronic influences which have been missing from the Fall of late.

Flooded and Family Feud are particularly good, and a great song about boiling a chicken called Chicken Yiamas.

[Johnny Yesno]

Just got this recently. There are some excellent tracks on it -  Fledermaus Can't Get It, The Rhinohead, Flooded and Family Feud to name the first four tracks.

However, it seems to lose it's way a bit after that. Over the next four tracks MES and MOM seem to come unglued and it's a bit like listening to two separate bands at once.

After that, Chicken Yiamas does sound like it's by a whole new band rather than a collaboration of artists. Maybe Smith's voice is better suited to guitars than MOM's precision techno.

That Sound Wiped is probably the weakest track on the album, being a recycling of the already weak track Wipe That Sound from MOM's Radical Connector album.

Finally, there's MES having a confused altercation with someone over the sound of a motor mower which is pretty amusing (JBak Lois Lane) followed by another very coherent guitar track called Dearest Friends.

Overall, I love the better techno tracks but, based on the evidence of the two guitar tracks, I can't help thinking they missed an opportunity to sound like an entirely new band.

There was a funny interview in The Grauniad's The Guide with MES about the making of TR but I can't find it online to quote it. He mentioned how MOM would pretend not to understand what he was on about or just leave him in the studio if he had one of his strops. It tied in nicely with JBak Lois Lane.