Die Offene Gesellschaft (or "The Open Society") is
Thilges 3's first full-length album. It came out toward the end of the release schedule of the group's series of ten 3" CDs and proposes a parallel discourse. Each installment in the series of EPs works like a single piece of a puzzle. This full-length gives the full picture, but instead of a landscape photograph, it is a collage of outsider art. Gammon, Nik Hummer, and Armin Steiner compiled field recordings (family gatherings around the dinner table, audience chatter during installations, daycare center); quirky, upbeat electronic tunes; and abstract pieces into a continuous document of fake audio-verite. The trio's music consists mostly of analog synthesizers, but it never sounds even remotely close to vintage electronic music --
Tangerine Dream or
Synergy this is not! Rhythmic synth patterns, modulating drones, and snatches of melody are combined to create retro-futuristic songs that recall Sack und Blumm with a sharper edge and added trips into the outer left field of sound art. The child drawing (depicting medieval wars) on the cover brings to mind some naïve electro-pop, but
Thilges 3's music is a bit colder and more detached than that. A good debut, albeit slightly hectic,
Die Offene Gesellschaft makes an effort to reach for the common man (i.e., make itself appealing) without trampling over artistic integrity. ~ François Couture