KAOS Protokoll - Questclamationmarks (2015)

Questclamationmarks is the sophomore full length effort of Swiss Electronically inflected Punk Jazz provocateurs known as Kaos Protokoll. The record was written on the heels of their contentious, critically acclaimed debut LP, entitled Quick & Dirty. Whereas, their first born was a rambunctious, irreverent brat, his younger sibling is a Möbius-like riddler, more mature, more complex, and definitely more enigmatic.

This texturally layered sequel was written from experiences and recollections accrued during touring and proactive traveling, which took the band all over Europe and Russia, and even as far as the outbacks of Siberia, where btw. the band fully spread their wings musically. The fact that the fellas were scattered all over the world while writing this record – with Marc living and recording his solo album in Paris, Flo living in New York, and Benedikt in Berlin – should not be underestimated as far as the depth of influence on their layered, new spawn. The actual tracks were laid in a cozy studio in Lubrza, Poland. Musically, the piece is as liquid as its predecessor and a times even more radical in its commitment to mercurial cross-pollination of genre signifiers and the channel zapping approach to arrangements. Almost no track ends where it started. Some shift from ballad territory into a barrage of noise, others from solid Funk infused rhythms into Free-Jazz deconstructions, and vice-versa. There are also ample hints of Dub here, and head nods in the direction of Hip Hop – as well as styles that are simply impossible to describe. From a production point of view there's more space and clarity on this record and the Electronica elements, which merely served as textural components in the past, take a lead here.

To step out of their budding comfort zone the fellas enlisted maverick composer-piano virtuoso Django Bates to oversee the birth of the new material. By relinquishing production duty the band was free, for the first time, to put their all into writing and performing, strictly, which shows in their newfound and explicitly exhibited individualistic playing. This is Kaos Protokoll 2.0: still savage at heart, raw and untamed, yet clearly more mature. There's a swagger and confidence in the new material, even at its most meandering, which speaks for how tight this outfit became over the years, mainly thanks to ceaseless touring, although a patch of grey hair didn't hurt either.

Track List:
1. Levitate. 5:27
2. Good Morning Krasnoyarsk! 4:38
3. Wrong Band. 5:09
4. Mr. Kobayashi. 4:23
5. Pathos Ratlos feat. Baze. 2:43
6. Ein Stück zum Mitsingen. 3:41
7. The White Forest and the Dancing Vodka. 4:12
8. In the Secret City. 6:40
9. Maybe You. 5:26
10. 108 Cafe. 5:56
11. Wiegelied. 2:33

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