Kammerflimmer Kollektief Hysteria

Kammerflimmer Kollektief started out as anything but a collective, being instead the moniker for Thomas Weber's solo experimentalism. Exploring the dark lands between free jazz and ambient electro - think Fourtet after Eno electroshock therapy - Weber trapped environmental noise, live and synthesised drums, lots of strings and keyboards, and, vitally, a heartbeat of upright bass, to startling effect. Around 1999 he turned into a real kollektief, expanding the outfit to a six-piece that's been busy touring and recording since. Based in Karlsruhe, Germany, Weber now counts on Christopher Brunner on vibraphone and drums, the "processed singing and breathing" of Marco Preitshopf and Anne Vortisch's keyboard skills, among others, in his remarkable project. Originally released in 2000 and long-since deleted, Hysteria is evidence of Weber's timely advances in form and rhythm, which still sound cutting-edge almost five years on. The album is also bolstered by an additional 15 minutes of studio recording not included on the original LP release. The opening title track swirls electro noises, tape sounds and strings around a driving bass-line to create a sound of purpose and menace, creepy but beautiful at the same time. It's reminiscent of Weber's French cousins Headphone and their uncanny knack of making achingly pleasant noise by locking ten musicians in separate hermetically sealed rooms with only the vaguest sense of a brief. Seen (not seen) sounds like Japanese free-jazz based on Bitches Brew outtakes, possibly lifted from a David Toop compilation, while Engel wacht creates sci-fi menace and Auguri supplies all the insane noise that is required on an album of this nature.

Remarkable though is the coherence of a number of tracks, in particular the centrepiece Du siest hoch; de siest "Wolken" (German speakers, anyone?). Here Weber and co. open with Warp sounds, briefly turn into Soulo, before sticking Laurent Garnier into a jazz filter, drowning the whole thing in Geiger counter noises, only to end in heartfelt strings and synths. Mohn! meanwhile structures something that sounds like country and western around a quiet but hypnotic bass line while flutes and loops spiral off in curious directions. And there's even a bonus alternative take of Du siest hoch, highlighting more of the collective's oversized visions or interstellar organic jazz.

If Sun Ra had ever attempted to record a country album, it probably would have sounded like this. For fans of free-jazz and experimental electro alike, Weber and co.'s efforts are thoroughly worth checking out.