After over 15 years as Kreidler drummer and a number of other guest appearances, Thomas Klein now presents his first solo album under the name SØLYST. The basic ingredients of his music do not differ greatly from Kreidler's. SØLYST also unites analogue drums and electronically generated patterns. But Klein now heads into more tribalistic territory. The beat, the groove, the monotones – Klein is a musical hypnotist, taking aim at rhythmic ecstasy with minimal, yet highly effective means. Both restrained and insistent, SØLYST's darkly pulsating aural cosmos envelops the listener and holds him fast as a fantastic voyage commences. Intricate, repetitive sequences, overflowing delays – and the drums, always the drums, sometimes in the mix, sometimes alone in acoustic space, as they unleash mesmerising physical and atmospheric energy, the heart of the instrumental pieces. Afrobeat, minimal music, Krautrock, dub, cosmic – all apposite and well-intended references, but not enough by way of explanation. A genre to encompass this has yet to be invented, so Tribal Dub Krautrock is perhaps the most fitting description.

Kreidler connaisseurs will be familiar with Klein's style of drumming. His trademark simultaneity of functionality and expressiveness cannot be mistaken. Thomas Klein has thus earned his rightful place alongside illustrious Krautrock drummers like Jaki Liebezeit (Can), Klaus Dinger (NEU!) and Mani Neumeier (Guru Guru), every one of them a master of his craft, each bringing his own unique personality and technique to the music. Klein is possibly closest to Liebezeit in terms of lineage: complex rhythms in endless loops with small, yet subtle scatterings.

Thomas Klein spent almost a whole year working on these eleven pieces, recording and mixing them himself. Klein performs live as SØLYST with TG Mauss on synthesizers, the latter having also contributed to the album.

http://bureau-b.de/solyst.php