Zeitschrei

Dominik Blum, Hammond C3 Organ
Marino Pliakas, Ebass
Lucas Niggli, Drums

all compositions © michael wertmüller (Ex-Alboth!, Full Blast etc.]
Mixed by Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Wire, Erasure etc.)Trost Records       

Supposedly the big step’s been taken, the novel sphere captured and developed. The future of music is now! - as it has been for almost twenty years. Steamboat Switzerland is part of an Avant-Garde movement that, despite having aged, has remained unattainable. This particularly bears upon the musical music, the energy, virtuosity and precision, with which Dominik Blum, Marino Pliakas and Lucas Niggli go about their work. And there is of course the mastermind behind this non-pareil, erratic Rock Avant-garde, that is currently being ennobled by the establishment as the exotic alternative: Composer Michael Wertmüller.
Recently, they have been joined by someone who puts the finishing touches to this music: Gareth Jones. Wertmüller’s compositions – having been recorded live by Steamboat Switzerland in a mere two days - were given added tangibility and a grip on reality by the British studio-producer, and left his hands infused with vigour and not least some thrilling details. This is something to be savoured to appreciate the full meaning of this collaboration: Depeche Mode, Einstürzende Neubauten, Wire, Erasure, These New Puritans, Steamboat Switzerland. This is where Jones put his hand to, issuing this new musical ground with partly familiar thresholds. On «Zeitschrei» I hear Shellac, but also Emerson, Lake and Palmer and MC5.
It may be that things have come full circle and Adolf Wölfli, to whom this band owes their name, is proved right: «’Twas the Steamboat Switzerland, with over a thousand passengers on board. Our efforts were requited with never-ending hoorays and cheers, flag throwing on the part of the passengers, the Sänger=Chor Concordia of Zürich, presented us with the beautiful Lied.»
The beautiful ‘Lied’: Yes, dear friends, this is where beauty is parleyed and rarely has it ever sounded quite so dark, so charged and iridescent. (Christian Pauli, 28. April 2013)