Bohren & der Club of Gore - Dolores (2008)

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Dolores (2008)

A loungy German jazz band who plays film noir-style music at a funeral pace that often rests below twenty beats per minute named Bohren & der Club of Gore? Sounds more like BORING & der Club of SNORE! LOL WUT!!!1

Except not at all, and even though I would have a hard time defending against their music being a complete bore to some, I still consider them to be one of my favorite bands making music today. Their dark-ambient jazz music would be an anomaly in any collection that doesn't consist of a few Angelo Badalamenti compositions and a Twin Peaks DVD box set. Those familiar with the composers work for the 1990's TV show, however, will immediately be able to point out the similarities between he and Bohren.

The band's first album, Gore Motel, played almost like a tribute; any one song feeling like a missing b-side for the Twin Peaks soundtrack. With subsequent albums, though, the band has shown real growth, which came together most brilliantly on 2000's Sunset Mission (though many would argue the same point for 2002's Black Earth), when the band beautifully integrated the saxophone and mellotron into their previously bass-driven sound. 2005's Geisterfaust felt like a bit of a misstep for those who had grown on the band's sax-led sound, myself included. Bohren had already been known for long, repetitive song structures, but without the improvisation of the saxophone on four of the album's five tracks, the songs felt longer and more repetitive than before.

It would be hard to call Dolores a new creative leap for the band, more of a return to form. What the band is able to do is take the sound they aimed for in Geisterfaust and present the songs in more digestible lengths. It's a small change that leads to a significant increase in listenability. The breaks and changes come more quickly and are easier to recognize, so it avoids getting to that "Damn, this song is still on?" moment that a few of Geisterfaust's songs reached. On top of that, there's more sax, and it's used effectively to give Dolores more mood variety than the band have given on an album since Gore Motel. While the mellotron-led tracks fashion a feeling of extreme sadness and mourning -- such as on "Orgelblut" or the fantastic opener "Staub" -- the sax songs come off as optimistic; almost upbeat at times.

Bohren have given me yet another reason to love them with Dolores. But I can't help but be continually impressed with how a band with really only one song have been able to turn that song into six full-length albums of above-average quality. One song, yeah, but it's a damn good song.



Score: 8/10


"Still Am Tresen"


"Orgelblut"

5 The Hard Way: Bohren & der Club of Gore

5 The Hard Way: Bohren & der Club of Gore

Bohren & der Club of Gore are easily one of my favorite active recording artists. Since 1992, the band have been making music using a creative blend of Twin Peaks inspired, slow-as-fuck downtempo jazz with elements of doom metal. Or is that doom metal with elements of jazz? Either way, you probably haven't heard anything that sounds like Bohren.

The band's sixth album, Dolores, was recently released in the US on Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings (PIAS Group internationally), and it'll probably be one of the better albums that 2008 will have to offer. To give interested parties a quick primer of Bohren's sound up to this point, here's my personal list of the top five songs the band has ever recorded (excluding any material from the new album, of course). Enjoy:



5) "Skeletal Remains" (from Black Earth)
Bohren have always been masters of dark, moody music, but "Skeletal Remains" is one of most effective. More than just weird or creepy, this is downright unsettling, especially at the song's climax.


4) "3" (from Midnight Radio)
Midnight Radio is probably the most taxing Bohren album to listen to because of it's sheer length coupled with many of the song's shameless repetitiveness. But "3" is the type of song that could go on for an hour with absolutely no objection from me. That echoing riff effect is probably the sleaziest sound to ever come out of a guitar. It's completely intoxicating.


3) "Midnight Walker" (from Sunset Mission)
Not to diminish it's excellence, but Sunset Mission is the perfect album to drift off to sleep to, and if there's any song on that album that can put me in a relaxing mood, it has to be this one. The title of the song is right on, perfectly encompassing the mood it creates.


2) "Die Nahtanznummer, Teil 2" (from Gore Motel)
The band's full-length introduction to the music world and they nailed it. Four minutes of a creepy bass line that segues into...even more creepiness by way of organ. This is the auditory definition of the word "brooding".


1) "Black City Skyline" from (Sunset Mission)
I'll admit to being completely biased with my following statement: there are very few songs in the history of the recording industry that are more perfect than this one. Any description I could attempt to provide wouldn't do it the level of justice I feel it deserves. But let's just say that the new sound that Bohren brought to the table with Sunset Mission is fully realized and perfectly executed within these six minutes.