This Is Not Here

German for bootleg, Bertelmann Volker and Mauss Torsten are two of the growing number of artists who refuse to see the difference between post-rock, folk, pop and electronica, combing all four into a peaceful, thoughtful and often instrumental form of music, already synonymous with labels such as Morr Music and Monika Enterprises. For their part, Tonetraeger mix it up more than most, sounding like a vibraphone-loaded Stereolab on opener "Loveliness" before going on to dissect bubbling glitches on "One Day Year" and coming on like a more folksy Velvet Underground on "April Day." The curiously titled "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is one of the more mellow numbers, recalling the single-note guitar interplay of classic Chicago post-rock act Tortoise, although, even at their most subdued, Tonetraeger is a lot louder than Volker's other project, Music A.M.. Perhaps it was only a matter of time that musicians would turn their electronics away from creating the most non-worldly sound possible, and instead begin to develop new ways to craft vintage acoustic sounds in digital realms. Tonetraeger makes this a priority, although the ‘80s-influenced pop of closer, "I'm OK" is kind enough not to leave you lost in a field at album's end.