Roland Sebastian Faber – Gropiusstadt EP (Aube 009) – 6/10

I’ve heard that every German, or more exactly every Swabian, is dreaming about building a house. Or they did, looking at a bare fact that nowadays about a half of the population prefers to live in a rental space. Like in the Gropiusstadt region in Berlin where the apartment houses are reaching to the skies like huge walls of concrete.

Herr Faber has engineered another synth record with German precision. Unfortunately A-side’s “Löffelkinder” is a lifeless disco-esque composition, where soprano ‘uh-ah’s mix the sound picture a bit. On the flip the title track “Gropiusstadt” lets the synth sing in a merry way heralding the dawn of a better future and suave guitar passages emerge to lend a dreamy feel to the piece. A kind of Latin soul lies in the inner depth of this track, while inevitably Jarre pops into my mind again. B2 or “Morgengrau” only vaguely keeps the momentum of the previous track and lets occasionally the sun peek between the impersonal buildings. Despite of its common-sounding texture the title track deserves a small award for sound architecture.

Buy digital from Juno Download
Buy vinyl from Discogs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *