Schneider Kacirek

German electronica duo Schneider Kacirek unites two veteran experimentalists: Stefan Schneider, who handles bass alongside a broad palette of electronics, and Sven Kacirek, whose focus rests on percussion. Schneider logged extensive collaborative time with Cluster, Neu!, Faust, and additional architects of the Krautrock movement while also partnering on projects alongside Arto Lindsay, Saint Etienne, and the Pastels; he additionally co-established the influential indie-electronic outfits To Rococo Rot and Kreidler. Kacirek issued multiple solo albums and joined forces with improvisers and electronic artists such as Hauschka and Marc Ribot. Prior to operating Schneider Kacirek as an official project, the pair journeyed to Kenya to gather field recordings of traditional music, later issuing unprocessed material on releases including the 2013 album Mukunguni: New Recordings from Coast Province, Kenya. Deeply fixated on those African traditions, the musicians began folding the tribal rhythms they had documented into shadowy electronic frameworks. Their aptly titled debut, Shadows Documents, appeared in early 2015 and blended dense percussion with occasional echoes of minimal-techno enigma; one track featured guest percussion from Nicholas Addo-Nettey, previously of Fela Kuti & Africa 70. The follow-up, Radius Walk, surfaced in 2017 and incorporated vocals from Sofia Jernberg on three selections.