Konformer / Konformer II / Before I Die Records – By Adam Turner

Wonderful words by the ever erudite Adam Turner. Konformer come from Nuremberg, a city steeped in all kinds of history. The three piece band – synths, bass and drums – make music that recalls the culture of West Germany in the late 1960s and 70s, the motorik and kosmische sounds of Neu!, La Dusselfdorf, Harmonia and Cluster. The fun of the autobahn. Their second album, Konformer II, is 6 tracks long and has a geography / travel theme with numbers named after Mont Ventoux, Marseille, Todmorden, and Berufsverkehr – the German word for rush hour traffic. It begins with Konfektio Suite – I – Participation Mystique, an epic intro to ease us into the journey; a single ringing note and wash of synths. The bassline takes the lead, as it does on so many Konformer compositions; the grooves and melodies built around Rainer Ruder’s bass, a slow motion four string loop pushing and pulling. There are touches of early New Order in Konformer’s sound; the New Order of Martin Hannett, Movement and…