With Akusmatik, the beat-boxing band Bauchklang is at it’s creative zenith. It is their twelfth release and their fifth album. There are 13 tracks on the album Akusmatik, which was produced by Patrick Pulsinger, which is released on the newly-created self-owned label Bauchklang Records and distributed by Rough Trade.

As a teaser for Akusmatik, the EP Ray was released in autumn 2012, followed by an extensive tour. And wherever it was: sold-out venues, heavy rotation airplay and top chart positions in radios included. Bauchklang again prove that this “vocal groove machine” is one of the most successful Austrian bands.

The vocal groove project Bauchklang impresses with its voice-only generated rhythm, bass and vocal acrobatics sound. Powerful voices surf dub, hip-hop, techno and classic beat-boxing, electronic styles as arduous a cappella tracks, never lost for musical tricks and political ambition. The quintet has played more than 700 gigs in over 25 countries so far. Their debut Jamzero (Ecco.Chamber) was already record of the year of FM4, an Austrian radio station. In 2002 and 2010, they received the »Amadeus Award«. In 2009, they received the Indian »Indiecision Best Gig International Award« for the best live performance of a foreign band, released on Live in Mumbai (Monkey Music). The following album, Signs (Monkey) was 14th on the Austrian charts.

After the EP Le Mans, self-published in 2011, on which Bauchklang convinced with minimal techno, a year later Ray took the next logical step in the direction of dancefloor. Le Mans and Ray are rather experimental and create moods reminiscent of French electronic music à la Justice. At first, electronica and tech-house maxis rather than beat- boxing tracks insinuate themselves.

Besides the re-release of the EPs Le Mans and Ray, Akusmatik comprises seven brand new titles which were produced by none other than techno pioneer Patrick Pulsinger, and which stake out the whole range of Bauchklang’s work. However, they continue to depart from what one usually understands to be beat-boxing in order to define their own sound more precisely: from atmospheric soundscapes to sumptuous down-tempo tracks, from groove party to meditative drifts. »Bidde« may pass as a dancehall techno track, »Enjoy The Risk« as electro, and »Letter To Me« and »Most Of The Time« are pure 2013 soul. As usual with Bauchklang, socio-political concerns are omnipresent, whether in the title »Change«, which invites us to change just about everything, or in »Ray«, where it says:

»Come with me come with me and there will be no fight / where the white is the black and the day is the night / let’s go away to the place called the freedom inside«.

Finally, the commonplace like relationships gets its say, too, as in »Another One«.

Whether for the stereo at home or for a DJ set: Akusmatik is full of themes which insinuate themselves to the ear and danceable rhythms. With Akusmatik, Bauchklang define state of the art beat-boxing.

Bauchklang: Akusmatik
Label: Bauchklang Records
Distribution: Rough Trade

Bauchklang:
Alex Böck: human bass, vocal sounds
Bina: human beatbox, vocal sounds, mouthpercussions
Andi Fränzl: lead vocals, vocal sounds
Gerald Huber: vocal sounds, backing vocals, human beatbox, human bass
Philipp Sageder: vocal sounds, mouthpercussions, backing vocals, human bass

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