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| B2 Club 
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| By Jeremy Schaar | |
T. Raumschmiere has been called “the King of Gnarz” (or Knarz). Seeing as he (Marco Haas is the man behind the music) coined the term himself, it’s not too surprising. But what is it? Detroit’s Metro Times offers this definition:
Knarz: Crazy, Germanized techno that improbably combines elements of rock music and the baroque. The sound is dark and druggy.
With T. Raumschmiere this means bass lines and drums give the songs their force. That’s not to say there aren’t other elements. He adds uncountable little sounds that are necessary for the overall effect. In most music, the bass and drums fill this backing role. You focus on the guitar or piano or whatever melody, and don’t really notice the bass or drums unless they’re weak or sloppy. It’s like he takes his music a step down. When he does make higher chords prominent, it’s surprising and powerful stuff. The occasional guitar melodies, coming in half way through a song, made me smile like I was walking away from a first kiss after a great date. Still, most of the music made me feel like I was walking away from that same girl 6 months later (after some idiot took her away). In a word: fury.
This King of Gnarz gave a downright fabulous performance. Haas came out looking like the lead singer from Uma Turman dressed in black. He had on a small round hat and a black wife beater with a skull and crossbones figure on the front. Plus, he had a short scraggly beard that looked less like creative facial hair and more like he just hadn’t shaved for a few weeks. He was all over the place using different machines. Mainly he was on the synthesizer and working a laptop. Joining Haas were a guitar player and drummer. They played enthusiastically and skillfully all night.
B2 was a great venue for his sound for a few reasons. First, they weren’t shy about turning up the volume. Also, it has dark colors everywhere and a rather large space for dancing in front of the stage. The floor had around 50 energetic people on it throughout the show. Behind the dance floor and up a few steps there are tables and a bar. On Thursday another 50 people enjoyed the show from this relaxed position. Everyone was having fun.
The last part of the show was the animation projected onto a large screen behind the band. Crazy videos played--stuff out of a graphic novel. A two dimensional Haas rocked back and forth with his synthesizer against a grainy background; digital green hands grabbed to the beat of the music. All the clips did wonders to add to the desired mood of all the songs.
In short, he rocks hard. T. Raumschmiere is techno music, but this is techno for more than just techno fans. If you like dark music, angry music, or just good music, check it out.
16.07.05 |
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