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Why do we like the things we like? What is it about certain bands, books, food, or movies that drives one to claim it as their own? Certainly, we all have our own preferences. For me, it's things that transport my senses to unfamiliar territory. Take Thai food, for example. I vividly remember the first time I had a plate of pad thai with a glass of thai tea.
The flavors were familiar, but somehow, in this combination, they expanded outward and seemed to hit several notes at once. It was sweet and hot, yet peanutty and citrusy. These elements shocked my senses, tasting exciting and lively. The woody tang and coconut sweetness of the tea added further layers of flavor. In a sense, the meal was hypnotic. I suppose it's a trance-inducing quality that always captures my attention and brings something towards the center of my awareness. I can name a number of things that inspire this state. In books, there are the edgeless and symbolic poems of Arthur Rimbaud. Also, the labrintine mountains of words in Borges or James Joyce. Movies like Pi, The Elephant Man, and Memento all have scenes where you are suddenly no longer watching, but thinking the film as it unfolds.
Music is, of course, rife with transcendental expression. Tibetan Buddhist chanting, Tuvan throat singing, Gnawa healing rituals, Aboriginal didgeridoo, and too many more to list can all lift up your head and spin it around. While we can find multiple examples in both avant garde and world music, what's truly remarkable is when a band takes a familiar and accessible idiom, then pushes it into this same luminous zone.
Colour Haze is a band that knows how to bring the trance to their rock. On their fantastic new disk, Tempel, they succeed in creating something both familiar and wonderfully strange. Colour Haze is a three-piece rock band from Germany who have been putting out music for the past five years or so. With each release, they have taken their core sound, a groove-locked, fuzz-driven pulse, into even further dynamic ranges. Of particular note is their mammoth two-disk set, Los Sounds de Krauts. With Tempel, however, they've set themselves a new standard. To that core of sound, they've added mighty dustings of organ ("Mind") along with jazzy time-signatures and chord figures ("Tempel"). These additions make a good thing even better. They've figured out those intricacies of tone that make for a signature sound. The playing is tight and focused, but in particular, it's the singing of Stefan Koglek that stands out. Instead of going either over the top with hysterical screams, or under the bottom with garbled death-growls, he opts for a hushed and intense intoning. Just like that wild bite of spicy pad thai, this style transports the listener to the stars. There's an honesty at work here that just seems right.
These days it can be hard to find something that has a sonic purity or purpose. Groups like SUNNO))), Acid Mother's Temple, and Comets on Fire are some exceptions. It's groups like these that give our ears a good cleansing. Add to that list Colour Haze. This is some kick-ass rock music.
Even better, it's some kick-ass rock music with a mind of its own. Thank goodness Colour Haze have both found and follow their muse.
www.colourhaze.de
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