Hot on the heels of the Tacita TRjj tape a few weeks ago, Max Stocklosa is back again with his latest iteration of the TR- universe - as the one line press release helpfully (but only) details, "Interest in Music was made by TRii Group, which stems from TRjj, which stems from TRIIMusic." If you're none the wiser, then that's probably the point, and who would want it any other way? No doubt it can be hard to keep up with exactly what is going on with the constant name changes and the timeline is equally blurred - TRiiMusik began in Cologne in the late 90s but no official releases seemed to emerge until the TRJJ collection on Stroom in 2019, though their Bandcamp is populated by numerous recordings under a wide range of aliases. Where the songs on Interest In Music fit in that timeline is unclear, since it's not detailed whether these are new or old (or a mixture of both) recordings. Does it even matter? What we do know is that Interest In Music features a lot more vocals than previous Stocklosa collections, something for which i'm extremely grateful. It's an unusual voice, almost robotic sounding, often doleful and off-key, and seemingly recorded at a distance, accompanied by an icier production than on the dreamier compositions on those earlier Stroom releases. As off-kilter and idiosyncratic as this music is, and despite the name changes leading down rabbitholes and throwing up red herrings, it does feel like some new kind of pop lexicon is being imagined into existence here. A bid for wider communication, but unwilling to compromise, too. In that sense, i'm reminded mostly of Die Welttraumforscher's ceaseless production line of oddball synthpop, in the way that each are representative of their own unique sonic worlds and impervious to any outside influence. Long may it remain so.
