Engelhardt/Seef/Davis - Pry

In one of the more surprising turns of 2023, Kai Althoff resurrects his Engelhardt/Seef/Davis alias for the follow up to the near-mythical debut from 1996. That first record, released via Stuttgart's Künstlerhaus gallery, is a bit of a museum piece, a distant star in the scattered constellation of Althoff's musical output (which i urge all those unfamiliar with to address), fated to be discussed in certain hushed circles more than it's likely to be heard. Art music often seems destined for such things, though that need not be the case in 2023 with this new one, self-released by Althoff and, unlike its predecessor, also available to listen to online. The music deserves to stretch far beyond any in-the-know coterie. Althoff's work as musician begins in the adventurous context of 90s Cologne, where Krautrock experimentalism allied with an emergent electronic music culture to formulate something both searching and unknowable. Pry finds the artist there again in spirit, though notably evolved. No-wave anti-formalism continues to prevail, where a free form approach to structure and primal electronics presupposes a version of Mars reimagined through the lens of Frank Dommert's Kontakta (no surprise that Althoff has worked extensively with his Sonig imprint), the results complex and dizzying, but inherently engaging. Elsewhere, as on the female vocal led opener What's The Fare, i'm reminded of Tara Cross' primitive synth contortions, or perhaps Inga Copeland's Advice To Young Girls. In fact, it's the latter who's perhaps the best point of reference, both under her own name and as Lolina, that same ability to render the abstract relatable, the familiar alien. It's what Althoff is maybe describing himself when he talks of being "stroke [d] ... into a more settled, but still shaken state". Pry certainly leaves you shook, that rare balance of alluring intangibility, a record it's hard to shake the memory of but where return viewings seem to reveal something previously unseen. Indisputably album of the year material. Edition of 225. One per customer