Dadanaut – Zentralkomitee
Dadanaut – Zentralkomitee – Album Review
Dadanaut has always had a knack for creating engaging art that invokes a wide variety of thoughts, feelings, and emotions as you listen to the artistry at work. Throughout the years as I’ve been listening, to records like Epopoee in 2022, Zeitnarren & Massenkater in 2023, and this new album Zentralkomitee in 2024 – this project has always possessed a penchant for creating instrumental art that my ears has appreciated. Hopefully that’s been the case for you as well! Let’s see what we’ve got here.
So…we start with a song called “Internationalismus” in this new installment to Dadanaut’s catalog. Dude’s always been a big fan of taking his time with the music he makes…you’ll usually find the songs are quite lengthy, and that remains to be the case with this opening tune. For the most part, the vast length of time in Dadanaut’s music has been a positive…and of course there have been a couple times here and there where things have drifted a bit too far. Think of it this way…it’s instrumental music, and when you’re crafting something to extended lengths, you’re essentially saying the things that words aren’t there to say through vocals and whatnot. For some listeners, they totally get that – it’s another form of storybuilding, simple & plain – for others, that’s where they can tend to feel the drag of a lack of vocals. No pleasing everyone anyhow, so do what you wanna do and let the chips fall where they may I say. “Internationalismus” is like a cross between hearing what your local funeral home’s organ player would choose to rock out to in their spare time, with something along the more spiritually satisfying sounds of Sigur Ros. It makes for an engaging pairing. The way it opens will pique your interest, but it’s likely the way that this first song expands to include the beat around the ninety-second mark that’ll get people the most excited about “Internationalismus.” Each of the seven tracks on this album seem to follow a bit of a formula in terms of their design, but each of them also have their own unique melody, demeanor, and vibe to them…so while there’s a haunting feeling like some things never change, at the same time, the main method feels cleverly disguised behind the way each track has its own personality. “Internationalismus” is interesting…no doubt about that…the details are all in the right place when it comes to the sparkling aspect of Dadanaut’s production, and the uniqueness shines here on track one.
“Bitternis” puts forth a curious melody right away…the kind of sound you want to follow along with like a soap bubble and you’re somewhere in the middle of a labyrinth trying to find your way out, but not too concerned about the daylight fading. How’s that for being specific? You’re welcome. I really did enjoy this tune though…there’s a genuine pleasantness you can feel at the heart of this one that endears you to it quickly, despite the slow & careful building of the design to “Bitternis” and its structure. The main question concerning the large lengths of the tunes that Dadanaut makes revolves around whether or not the size is justified, or if it’s stretched a little too thin. “Bitternis” becomes a tougher one to examine, because I really dig on the frequencies in the mix, I love the atmospheric tones and angelic presence of the melody, and I appreciate that it’s still very much on the experimental side of sound. Does it warrant the seven and a half minutes in length? Honestly, it’s hard to say. Coming from a person like myself where I’d readily tell ya that I dig what I hear…even I’m having a hard time feeling like there wouldn’t be a way to pair this down a little bit to a tighter five minute tune, or make the reasons as to why it would need to be of such a massive magnitude more audibly obvious to us as listeners. For myself, I feel like there’s about a minute on each end of this that could probably be reined in a little. Don’t get me wrong, I still stand by the storytelling nature of Dadanaut’s instrumental tunes and why the songs are the way that they are, but you don’t want to lose the crowd of people listening other than me…and the best way to meet somewhere in the middle is to keep things moving at a more palatable pace. More importantly, you want each passing second to feel like it’s played with purpose and intent. Dadanaut can wander a bit at times, and I suppose that’s probably the case when it comes to “Bitternis” – so even though I particularly enjoy what I hear, I can still hear the opportunity to tighten things up. All-in-all though, I’m not complaining really…I appreciate the attention to detail in the landscape of sound that Dadanaut’s created on “Bitternis” and the way this melody turns the wheels of our brain.
“Maschinensaal” is about where I start to get worried a little bit, but also find a breakthrough as well. This is where you start to feel a bit more weighed down by the somewhat formulaic way you know that you can rely on Dadanaut’s songs to develop at the slow and steady pace they do – but, admittedly, you’ll also find the most engaging melody, hook, and moment so far on Zentralkomitee too, which kinda makes it worth the trade. You’ll know what I mean when you get to around the two minute mark…you’ll be feeling that urge to stretch and move a little bit, because we’ve already experienced two cuts that had the same length to build and transition beforehand…but it’s only thirty seconds or so later that you’ll find the real sonic payoff you’re looking for. It’s kind of like how we were searching for that a little bit in “Bitternis” previously, but never really found that magic moment that’ll keep most folks coming back to repeat the experience again…”Maschinensaal” has what your ears are looking for. Whereas “Bitternis” worked with a more intangible & artistic allure that might appeal to me but not necessarily everyone, “Maschinensaal” has that widespread accessibility once it reaches that first major transition. That being said, I’m not so sure that keeping the beat as the big reveal is always the best way to go if I’m being entirely honest with ya. It’s something that Dadanaut likes to bring in further into his music than most would ever dare, and while it’s fairly undeniable that this move always makes a genuine difference – I think it’s equally true that potentially bringing the beats of his songs in earlier could potentially make the material more engaging for his audience right from the start, know what I mean? That opens up the opportunity to find different ways of making things change on a structural level or melodically later on as well, which in turn provides the music the opportunity to be more unique from track to track etc. etc. – but again, I’m not disputing that I like what I hear in terms of texture and tones. “Maschinensaal” actually has quite a mid-career Mogwai type of vibe to it, which is always going to be appealing to me.
The title-track, “Zentralkomitee,” is where you find out if it’s actually possible for Dadanaut to thrive inside of a much shorter timeframe – this is the smallest track on the album, almost by half the length. There are absolutely amazing things happening on the surface of the melody, and Dadanaut has done a stellar job of highlighting those moments through the production. There’s part of me that wants to advise some caution and urge a bit more creativity in terms of how the dude’s designing his material, because we can kind of notice the similarities with how the lower-end is like the bedrock and the lighter elements you’ll hear in the music have the most freedom to change & carry the weight of the melody. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that being the case, but you start to wonder if Dadanaut will ever shake things up significantly in that regard, or if the formula is what reigns supreme. Every so often when it comes to art and music it’s almost like we need to forget everything that we know so that we can step outside of ourselves to do things differently and advance the craft as a whole. Dadanaut does sound a bit like it’s stuck in the same gear from track to track and record to record right now…and I suppose it’s my job to challenge the artists and bands I work with to fall in love with the many different ways they can make their music unique, as opposed to settling for any singular method. Now…the real thing is that I’m only speculating of course…only Dadanaut knows whether or not the same approach is being applied time after time…but I suspect that fundamentally, it is, and I also suspect there’s more in the tank than we often get from what we’ve heard in this project so far to-date. Wonderful ideas on every record, don’t get me wrong…but there’s also a vast amount of potential still yet to be explored. Anyhow. Ultimately, “Zentralkomitee” still has a pleasant vibe that’s bound to get its share of attention.
Even on “Drahtriß” and its immediate departure into its immense depths at the start, you can still feel that quick impulse to establish the base of the low-end in the material, before Dadanaut will eventually begin to focus on the lighter aspects of the melody on the surface. So on the one hand, it’s certainly compelling…and if it were just the one tune to establish itself this way, it’d make a bit more of an impact – but in the context of a series of songs that feel very much designed in a similar fashion, the template starts to feel more noticeable, even if the sound selection itself is different – everyone following along? There are a couple things about “Drahtriß” that come out a bit strange in my opinion…like for example, it takes about four minutes of build-up before we really feel like it has found itself…which really only leaves it a few more before it’s all wrapped up. I think having the beat and cymbals play a more prominent role is a good idea, but I wasn’t a huge fan of how they affected the overall mix…it ends up supplying a bit of a distorted texture to it all, and I suppose I feel like one of Dadanaut’s main strengths is always in the production. That leads us to assume it’s a purposeful part of the design…and perhaps it is…but much like the inclusion of static in any give tune, the perceptions of distortion in the mix from the average everyday listener out there don’t usually get interpreted as intentional on the listening end. I feel like there are some great ideas here, but they’re a bit more buried in this one mix-wise than we usually find Dadanaut’s music to be. Those listening close will understand it’s intentional by design based on the clarity in the surrounding elements of the music, but part-time listeners will be more at risk of not understanding that and simply assuming that something ain’t quite right here. It’s all up to Dadanaut on whether or not that’s the right risk worth taking…like I said at the start, there’s no pleasing everyone, but you can attempt to find some kind of middle ground that doesn’t compromise the vision.
Even though we start to get a sense of how things are assembled, it’s not like I’m suggesting you won’t find plenty of interesting things to experience. Like “Tiefschlafphase” for example…this song has got one heck of a unique idea/sound at the core of it, and definitely has the kind of curiosity-inducing vibe that makes your ears wanna find out where this is all gonna go. The sound selection here is outright fascinating and should have no problem at all enticing most folks in to at least have a listen, though in the long run, I suspect a track like this will appeal mostly to the more creative and artistically inclined. Almost split right down the middle, you’ll find “Tiefschlafphase” lightening-up as it passes the halfway mark into what I’d reckon is a bit more accessible to most listeners than how it started, though arguably it becomes a bit more ‘normal’ by the same measure…so it really just depends on what you’re tuning in for. Like I remind ya all the time, I’m just another one of millions of opinions out there on the internet – you might end up with a totally different opinion of what’s happening on any of these tunes. I’d still happily tell ya that I really enjoyed both halves of “Tiefschlafphase” even if I might be more interested and engaged with its first half personally…ultimately I still think both work out well; the transition is as seamless as you’d expect from Dadanaut, and it’s kind of like two tunes fused into one for the same price – you gotta love that. He’s still got quite a bit of blank space at the end of these tunes as they stand right now…but I’d expect he’ll tighten that stuff up before the official release of Zentralkomitee. I suppose overall, I probably feel a bit the same about “Tiefschlafphase” as I did towards “Bitternis” earlier on…it sounds great all the way through with its spellbinding and hypnotic design, but it also feels like its missing a bit of that wow factor required to keep people coming back to it at the same time too.
Ending with…you guessed it…a song that’ll nearly reach the ten-minute mark…”Wiederhall” is the last track on the album and begins with establishing that low-end part of its structure first. We’re onto you Dadanaut! In any event…I’ll be real with ya…the length worries me a bit in the sense that we can bank on Dadanaut taking even more time with the storybuilding aspect of this finale’s design…which is certainly the case. You might even feel like “Wiederhall” does less than any other track on the album, drifting much closer to the ambient realm than any other cut on the record. Having said that…I gotta admit that it’s actually one of my favorite songs on this album…in fact it’s probably THE cut of all cuts on Zentralkomitee in my own personal opinion, despite its extremely slow progression and movement. You see? I’m always fair and honest in what I tell ya, even when it makes me appear hypocritical! Look…I would never expect everyone out there to ‘get’ a track like “Wiederhall” and I’d be the first to tell ya that there’s somewhat going to be a time & place for this kind of song, as opposed to it being every day listening…but…c’mon y’all…there are authentically breathtaking moments in this track that hopefully everyone can appreciate in some way. Dadanaut has opted for a drone-style type of tune here for the finale, which works really well as the sound shifts between your lefts and rights. “Wiederhall” has a unique combination of both cold/warm sound on display…a distance to it that feels colder & withdrawn, but also a slow & steady glowing pulse that feels present & mesmerizing. It’s kind of like the effect that a track like “A Warm Place” by Nine Inch Nails has on us when we listen…like we’re staring straight into the heart of the void, but somehow feeling right at home at the same time. If you ask me, that’s an outright special & insightful type of tune to create, and by no means any kind of small accomplishment when it comes to songs that would theoretically move as slowly & carefully as this last track does. It might actually be one of the most powerfully moving moments that Dadanaut has created to-date in my opinion…if not THE most moving that I can personally recall. I might have to take another listen to the whole catalog to be certain, but listening to the resilient spirit and sound of “Wiederhall” makes me confident that this track would likely end up in my top three Dadanaut tunes of all-time at the very least. That’s always a solid way to wrap things up, so I’ll leave it at that for ya! I’m always looking forward to the next chapter of Dadanaut’s storytelling style of instrumental music – Zentralkomitee is filled with a plethora of the reasons as to why that is, and finishes on its strongest with “Wiederhall” at the very end.
Find out more about Dadanaut at the official site: https://dadanaut.de
