Tarwater

Biography

Part of an insurgent movement of esoteric, repetitive and sample-heavy German music, Tarwater are equally inspired by Steve Reich and east coast America hip-hop. From their studio surrounded by semi-legal clubs playing minimal Teutonic techno, the Berlin-based duo of Bernd Jestram (9 March 1962, Perleberg, Germany; bass/keyboards) and To Rococo Rot’s Ronald Lippok (b. 13 June 1963, Berlin, Germany; drums/vocals) orchestrate found sounds and samples as if they were geological strata to create subtle and captivating music. Although they claim ‘we like to think of ourselves as pop not avant garde ’, Lippok and Jestram have a playful, experimental impulse that compels them to disrupt the accepted notion of ‘the song’. Instead of writing lyrics, Ronald blankly intones found text in his strangely deadpan and neutral voice. They apply electronica’s sampling processes to the spoken and written word, manipulating text-like samples. Words are...

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