Morphing from a post-hardcore outfit into one of indie electronic's definitive acts,
the Notwist have continually evolved over their decades-long career. Though their 1990 self-titled debut paid homage to the American hardcore and grunge bands they fell in love with as kids, their growing fascination with electronic music made its way into efforts like 1998's
Shrink, which was informed by trip-hop, post-rock, and IDM.
The Notwist put all the pieces together on 2002's breakthrough
Neon Golden, an album that perfected their organic blend of heartfelt songwriting and live and electronic instrumentation, and defined the sound of indie electronic music for years to come. Though it took a while for the band to hit upon their signature sound, they continued to challenge themselves. Whether they worked with an orchestra on 2008's
The Devil, You + Me or nodded to their lifelong love of jazz with the rolling, improvisatory feel of 2021's
Vertigo Days,
the Notwist always stayed true to their experimental roots.
Before forming
the Notwist, brothers
Markus and
Micha Acher were raised in a musical family in the small town of Weilheim, Germany. Their father was a multi-instrumentalist whose dream was to have a Dixieland band with his sons, so after the brothers learned to play the recorder at an early age,
Micha moved on to trumpet and
Markus graduated to drums. In addition to performing with their father in the New Orleans Dixie Stompers, they also played in other bands, but the Achers felt confined until they discovered American underground rock acts like
Dinosaur Jr.,
Minor Threat, and
Jerry's Kids. They started
the Notwist in 1989, with
Markus on vocals and guitar,
Micha on bass, and their friend Martin Messerschmid on drums. The trio conceived the band as a heavy rock outfit on 1990's
The Notwist, which incorporated elements of grunge, metal, and hardcore. They continued in a similar vein on their next album
Nook, which arrived in 1992. That year also saw the release of the self-titled debut from
Markus Acher's
Village of Savoonga, a post-rock outfit that issued albums into the 2000s. The Acher brothers' collaborations expanded in 1994 with the formation of
Tied +Tickled Trio, which merged elements of electronic music with contemporary jazz.
The Notwist began adding electronics into their music on 1995's 12, their first collaboration with programmer/keyboard player
Martin Gretschmann (who also records as
Console). A former schoolmate of
Markus Acher's,
Gretschmann's facility with his Akai sampler helped them add more textures to their sound. He became a full-fledged member of
the Notwist in 1997, and the electronic aspects of their music, along with the jazzier side of post-rock, came to the fore on the following year's
Shrink.
The Notwist's members spent some time pursuing their other projects -- such as
Markus' work with
Lali Puna and
Micha's work with
Ms. John Soda -- before returning in January 2002 with their fifth album,
Neon Golden. Fifteen months in the making, it reflected the organic integration of live, sampled, and electronic instrumentation the band introduced on
Shrink. Hailed for its emotional songwriting and subtly expressive blend of indie rock and pop with electronic elements,
Neon Golden became the band's breakthrough album in America and helped kickstart the indie electronic movement of the early 2000s.
The Notwist followed
Neon Golden's international success with several short-form releases. The band's soundtrack to director Hans-Christian Schmid's Lichter arrived in August 2003 on their own Alien Transistor label.
Different Cars and Trains, an EP of
Neon Golden remixes and B-sides, also appeared that year, while Solo Swim, a collaboration with
Console and
Klimek that served as the soundtrack to Jörg Adolph's documentary Kanalschwimmer, came out in September 2004. Alongside work on their other established projects, the members of
the Notwist also formed
13 & God with the underground hip-hop act
Themselves, and released the project's self-titled debut album in May 2005.
In 2007, Messerschmid left
the Notwist, with
Andi Haberl replacing him as drummer.
Haberl made his recorded debut with the band on May 2008's
The Devil, You + Me. For their sixth album,
the Notwist took a different approach than they did on
Neon Golden, taking inspiration from French movie soundtracks from the '70s as well as mosaic-like albums such as
Cornelius'
Fantasma and
J Dilla's
Donuts. Co-produced by
Olaf Opal,
The Devil, You + Me also featured
the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra (of which
Haberl was a member). The following year, they reunited with Schmid for the soundtrack to his film
Sturm. Once again,
the Notwist's members spent a few years working on their other projects, including albums from
Lali Puna and
13 & God. In 2012, they provided the music for another Schmid film, Home for the Weekend, and began playing new material live late in the year.
The Notwist resurfaced with February 2014's
Close to the Glass. Boasting some of their most accessible songwriting and experimental instrumentation, the album was nominated for European Independent Album of the Year at the 2015 IMPALA Awards.
Gretschmann left the band later in 2014, with producer/multi-instrumentalist
Cico Beck joining the fold. Early in 2015, the band issued
The Messier Objects, a collection of instrumental tracks written in the years between
The Devil, You + Me and
Close to the Glass. The live album
Superheroes, Ghostvillains & Stuff appeared in 2016, capturing the second of the band's three consecutive sold-out shows in Leipzig, Germany in late 2015.
The members of
the Notwist took some time to work on other projects that ranged from
Beck's output with
Joasihno to curating Alien Disko, a Munich-based indie rock festival. It was through the festival that
Beck and
Markus Acher connected with
Tenniscoats' Saya and
Takashi Ueno and formed the band
Spirit Fest with Jam Money 's
Mat Fowler. The group quickly released three albums of improvisation-based indie pop:
Spirit Fest (2017),
Anohito (2018), and
Mirage Mirage (2020). During this time,
Micha and
Markus Acher also formed the instrumental folk-jazz ensemble
Hochzeitskapelle, who also issued a number of albums in rapid succession (2016's The World Is Full of Songs, 2018's
Wayfaring Suite, and 2019's If I Think of Love).
The Notwist reemerged in 2020 with the soundtrack to the Bastian Günther film One of These Days and the
Ship EP, which featured Saya on vocals and provided a preview of the band's next album. Arriving in January 2021,
Vertigo Days was a flowing, suite-like set of songs that included contributions from
Juana Molina,
Ben LaMar Gay,
Angel Bat Dawid, and the Japanese brass band Zayaendo. ~ Heather Phares