Cloudland Canyon

A modern act travelling Krautrock’s beaten Autobahn is nothing new, yet seldom does one do it as convincingly as Cloudland Canyon. The half-German, half-American duo’s retro-futurist drones are as authentic as they get, picking up on all the best moves from the ’70s German underground and adding a few new ones along the way. With the familiar swirl of psych guitars, spaced-out synths and repetitive motorik rhythms, Cloudland Canyon wear their influences on their sleeves with Lie in Light, the group’s first Kranky full-length. However, they never come across as pointless rock revivalists. Rooted amongst all the celestial tones, galactic squalls and occasional German-sung vocals are very modern electronic touches and sonic manipulations, making Lie in Light more of a welcome continuation of Krautrock rather than a pointless rehash. And it’s this combination of old meets new, as well as Lie in Light’s sheer tripped-out awesomeness, that should easily award it a prominent play-list position.