After nearly four decades together, German experimental icons The Notwist have just released their most mature album to date. This isn’t a sneaky way of implying they’re starting, nor a suggestion that they hadn’t already reached full artistic maturity long ago, only recognition that, in a vast catalog spanning growling grunge to synth-splashed pop, News from Planet Zombie contains the most reflective material they’ve ever recorded. Their original sound, developed in the early ’90s, represented the Teutonic equivalent of Seattle grunge. With brothers Markus and Micha Acher still at the helm, News from Planet Zombie is a far cry from those days, but this is no random mutation, merely the natural end result of an evolution that’s unfolded organically,…
Tag Archive: The Notwist
Magnificent Fall, The Notwist‘s new rarities compilation, compiles some special and wild moments from this unique German indie group’s rich history. They’ve always snuck gorgeous songs and thrilling remixes onto split singles, extended plays, and other formats, across their career, and pieced together here – compiled thoughtfully, with sensitivity to flow and the listening experience – these thirteen selections work as a kind of ‘shadow narrative’ of The Notwist, an alternative index of the possibilities this shape-shifting group uncovered during their time together.
They’ve been smart to let go of chronology when sequencing Magnificent Fall, so the songs here move across phases and stages of The Notwist’s career, helmed by brothers…