If the words “I was born in 1977,” delivered with a slight German accent in English, mean something to you as they emerge from a peculiar quagmire of electroacoustic noise punctuated with periodic instrumentation, then you’re probably like me and wondering how The Nest got a copy of your birth certificate and also your family history. What are they going to do with that information? By the sounds of it, probably something nefarious.
Using my personal documents as sheet music, The Nest set themselves up in a “gothic church in Berlin Friedrichshain” and went to town on the recording, because the atmosphere there, so I hear, is top notch. (Plus, birds tend to find the nooks and alcoves among the spires of gothic churches appropriate nesting grounds, so The Nest probably felt right at home.) With a sound both ominous and spacious, the quartet allows the music to breathe and expand within the cavernous surroundings, all the while giving off an unsettling and claustrophobic vibe — I can’t imagine that’s easy to do. (Goes back to playing barre chords on a knockoff Strat)
Maybe it’s easier to imagine if you realize these four dudes are fixtures in experimental underground circles in Germany, coming from projects like Bohren & der Club of Gore, Desmond Denker, SFX, and Quagga rpm. As such, the surprise shouldn’t be too great that “1977” is a fascinating and harrowing fifteen minutes of your time, meticulous and spontaneous all at once. As the lead track to the forthcoming cassette on motmot-tapes, it’s a generous introduction, a full half of what you’ll hear upon purchase. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see how bad my credit score’s tanked with this unfortunate data breach.
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