Automat
Ostwest
From Detroit techno and hip-hops early sampling experiments to Terre Thaemlitz, electronic music has long proven its political potential, even in instrumental form. With OstWest, Berlin-based electronic-kraut-dub trio Automat complete their LP trilogy with a deep and entrancing take on the failures of neoliberalism. Recorded in 2015 at Candy Bomber Studios in Berlins former Tempelhof Airport at the height of the European refugee crisis, the band found itself neighbours of thousands of refugees from across the Middle East and Africa who were being provided temporary housing in the airports former hangars directly below the studio. With the first two parts of the Automat trilogy centering on Berlins airports (2014s self-titled 1st LP) and dubs hardware of sonic space travel (2015s PlusMinus), OstWest stands as a musical interpretation of the impact of these thousands of new arrivals within Germany and the EU, as well as the rise of xenophobic political movements spurned on by the Brexit. The result is a series of atmospheric and rhythmic meditations that provide the foundation for swirling electronics and the bass-heavy sounds of a changing Europe - from the musical perspective of longtime Berlin residents who have already experienced the destruction of post-Cold War optimism shortly after the fall of the Wall.