2 by The Interlaken Tapes is a vapour-kraut soundtrack for your summertime meltdown. Clocking in at just 21-minutes, it’s over before you know it, so put this one on loop and enjoy the motorik monotony.
The Interlaken Tapes is the project of bedroom producer Gorden Spangardt (ex-Kirmes). He also regularly releases left-field electronica under the moniker GRDN. The Interlaken Tapes project “wrests colour from the principle of simplicity and monotony” and is for fans of Can, Neu!, Locust Fudge and Joy Division.
Lead single “Bordeaux & Orange” is a Serge Gainsbourg infused Can cocktail with guest vocals from Christopher “Krite” Uhe. However, the song was hardly inspired by sipping drinks or French cities.
“Bordeaux & Orange” was inspired by the colour of the soccer shirts of a team that my daughter played against,” explained Gorden. “They were bordeaux and orange, so I sing about the colours. Also, Christopher is well known in Germany for his 90s bands Speed Niggs, Locust Fudge and Sharon Stoned. Their sound was very influential to me, so I asked him to sing and he agreed!”
If you’re not convinced to listen to The Interlaken Tapes based on my Gainsbourg CAN cocktail association, sprinkle in some German and English words murmured with repetitive restlessness about to boil. Or… Gorden describes the EP like this: “Imagine if Joy Division hadn’t discovered the sequencer on their own, but teamed up with the rhythm experts of CAN and Neu!”
2 was released on 13 June and is available on CD and vinyl via Bandcamp. The vinyl release also includes The Interlaken Tapes’ first, self-titled EP. You can also follow The Interlaken Tapes on Instagram. For live performances, Gorden is joined by Björn Schmidt and Matthias Glass.