Testbild! Classic/Dud

I found a copy of "The Double life of Testbild" and I do enjoy it, particularly "ENIAC vs. UNIVAC" and "Lolita Wagner" (the Neu! tribute "Dissembled Hero" is also very cool). That said I haven't heard anything else by the group and searching them doesn't really bring up anything - has anyone heard of these guys and if so, are their albums worth getting?

I know nothing, but am intrigued - can you expound further on what they're like?

they definitely have a Kraftwerk vibe to them, like - mostly synth-based, general friendly melodies, and deadpan vocals, but with a lot of keyboards that sound like they're based on radio transmitters, dial tones, or old submarine equipment. the disc I have varies between catchier stuff and driftier ambient material. here's a good example (and actually the only song I found on Youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqMEcpCYrGk

I've written a few reviews about them for the All Music Guide over the years, good band.

http://allmusic.com/artist/testbild-p689211

And yup, did the bio too...

oh yeah - maybe a better reference point is Young Marble Giants...not that sparse but the song I posted does sound a lot like "Wurlitzer Jukebox"

so these guys are mostly ambient? now i'm confused

They're...their own thing.

Hmmm, this all sounds pretty interesting. I will give them a try.

yeah Ned, I believe it. paragraphs like this don't exactly clear things up either:

If the use of various Arabic and North African musical and sonic signifiers can be seen as orientalist in some eyes, given the subject of the album it's only appropriate, since both writer and band are dedicated to finding their own middle ground. Hearing the crystalline smooth '60s-style vocal harmonies opening "Labyrinthine" shift into what could be a field recording in Algiers, or noting how "Evening Star" feels like it could be both the Free Design and the soundtrack to The Sheltering Sky is only appropriate.

Precisely! (As it were.)

I thought this might be a thread about late 70s/early 80s German minimal electronicists DIN A Testbild, featuring Gudrun Gut and produced and released by Klaus Schulze.

But since it isn't, these Swedish guys sound interesting too. Will check them out.

(most useless post ever)