Roettger and Goldstein - Eine Kleine Stadtmusik

by Andrew Carver

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Roettger and Goldstein - Eine Kleine Stadtmusik

Label: Firestation Tower
Format: CD

Knud-Philip Roettger and Patrick Goldstein normally front Caroline Now! and Goldstoned. They’ve pooled their popcraft into an album that harkens back to the eighties. They wear their influences o

Review

Knud-Philip Roettger and Patrick Goldstein normally front Caroline Now! and Goldstoned. They’ve pooled their popcraft into an album that harkens back to the eighties. They wear their influences on the sleeve — or at least on the tray card and booklet of their CD: On the back there’s a tabletop littered with beer bottles, coffee mugs, cigs, books on Roxy Music and XTC and an issue of Mojo (with Marvin Gaye on the cover — and I know it had an XTC story in it as well). The booklet has a photo-collage of their apartment — pictures of the Beatles; Rickenbacker guitars; keyboards; a drum machine; posters for the Style Council, Frankie GoesTo Hollywood and the Eagles; stacks of books, CDs and vinyl. And a disco-ball. 'Eine Kleine Stadtmusik' starts off with the sound of rain and heels on pavement, some urgent but delicate metal percussion, piano and thrumming bass — very evocative ... the piano rises toward a crescendo — then they throw in a funky guitar break, some horns, heavy beats, a wooshy sound of indeterminate origin ... The rest of 'Tausende von Taugen' will please those whose ears are aimed at the dancefloor, but might prove to be a let-down to pure pop fans. The next song, 'Du Stahlst mir Mein Herz', starts off with some rising electric guitar — good! — then starts on in some vaguely loungy crooning. Some XTC-ish backing vocals help, and there’s a great break with punchy drums (or at least a well-programmed electronic substitute) and a bit of frenzied guitar. There are bits of praiseworthy guitar all over this album some good fuzz in 'Filmstar', a nice riff at the start of 'Schattenklange' — every song has a few good guitar moments, but a lot of the time it fights a losing battle with the keyboards and drum machine. If you fancy piano and repetitive beats and understand German (or don’t care either way) Roetgger and Goldstein should be just what you’re looking for. Personally, I think they should grab a flesh-and-blood drummer and play more guitar.

Track Listing:-

1 tausende von tagen
2 du stahlst mir mein herz
3 warum habe ich das nie gesagt
4 welt rollt vorbei
5 sommerzeit
6 nachtzug (eine kleine stadtmusik)
7 helden
8 filmstar
9 schattenklaenge
10 ist das leben schoen ist das leben schoen