Trein Maersk

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
The oceanic equivalent of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, Trein Maersk is an audio travelogue intended to promote free international trade (no kidding); as a result, Icebreaker's second record gets even more deeply conceptual than their excellent debut, err, report. Trein Maersk puts Simon Break and Alexander Perls on the container ship of the same name to report the findings gathered on their month-and-a-half-long journey from Japan's Yokohama port to Canada's Halifax port. Lengthy electronic pop instrumentals named after each of the five ports they dropped anchor at ("Port of Dubai," "Port of Rotterdam") form the basis of the report, with some of the shorter sequences named after other points of interest and passage ("The Pacific Rim," "Strait of Gibraltar"). The only spoken bits come from "correspondence" with Russian, Brazilian, and Chinese "audio consultants," as well as political sound bites. This report is a lot less ambient than its predecessor, with the minimalist streak jettisoned in favor of mostly up-tempo tracks with further presence of guitars and pulsing rhythms. Although Perls and Break might work better with ambient isolationism than kinetic beats (the dance influence seems to stop at Kraftwerk and '80s synth pop), the disc satisfyingly doesn't sink under the weight of its concept. Well over an hour in duration, it's a bit much to digest -- but hey, this is international free trade you're talking about here, certainly an important topic compared to the subject matter of today's average concept LP. The booklet is more extensive than one you can find accompanying a rock opera, containing exhaustive information on the ports, trade policies, maps, and photos of subjects ranging from Mexican dock workers in Halifax to the port of Rotterdam's board of directors. Who says modern music has no educational value? ~ Andy Kellman