The Notwist

The Notwist shifted across decades from a post-hardcore group into a cornerstone of indie electronic music. Their identically titled 1990 debut reflected the American hardcore and grunge acts that had captured their youthful attention, yet an expanding interest in electronics surfaced on later releases such as 1998's Shrink, shaped by trip-hop, post-rock, and IDM. On the 2002 album Neon Golden they achieved a unified balance of emotionally direct songwriting with both live and electronic instruments, setting a template that influenced the genre for years afterward. Even after arriving at their characteristic approach, the group kept pushing boundaries, whether through orchestral arrangements on The Devil, You + Me in 2008 or through the loose, improvisational jazz inflections of Vertigo Days in 2021.

Markus and Micha Acher grew up in a musical household in Weilheim, Germany, before the Notwist existed. Their father, a multi-instrumentalist who hoped to form a Dixieland ensemble with his sons, encouraged early recorder lessons; Micha later took up trumpet while Markus advanced to drums. The brothers performed with him in the New Orleans Dixie Stompers and joined additional bands, yet they felt restricted until they encountered American underground rock acts including Dinosaur Jr., Minor Threat, and Jerry's Kids. In 1989 they launched the Notwist, with Markus handling vocals and guitar, Micha on bass, and Martin Messerschmid on drums. The trio approached their 1990 debut as a heavy rock project incorporating grunge, metal, and hardcore. They maintained that direction on the 1992 follow-up Nook. That same year Markus Acher's post-rock project Village of Savoonga issued its self-titled debut, which continued releasing albums into the 2000s. In 1994 the Acher brothers expanded their collaborations by forming Tied + Tickled Trio, which combined electronic elements with contemporary jazz.

Electronics entered the Notwist's music on 1995's 12, their first project with programmer and keyboardist Martin Gretschmann, who also records as Console. A former schoolmate of Markus Acher, Gretschmann used his Akai sampler to expand the group's textural range and joined as a full member in 1997. The electronic dimension, together with post-rock's jazz leanings, became prominent on the following year's Shrink. After pursuing side projects such as Markus's work with Lali Puna and Micha's work with Ms. John Soda, the band returned in January 2002 with its fifth album, Neon Golden. Created over fifteen months, the record extended the organic merger of live, sampled, and electronic instrumentation first explored on Shrink. Praised for its emotionally resonant songwriting and understated fusion of indie rock and pop with electronic components, Neon Golden served as the group's American breakthrough and helped launch the early-2000s indie electronic movement.

Following the international success of Neon Golden, the Notwist issued several shorter releases. Their score for director Hans-Christian Schmid's Lichter appeared in August 2003 on the band's own Alien Transistor label. Different Cars and Trains, an EP of Neon Golden remixes and B-sides, also surfaced that year, while Solo Swim, a collaboration with Console and Klimek that accompanied Jörg Adolph's documentary Kanalschwimmer, arrived in September 2004. Alongside their established projects, the Notwist members formed 13 & God with the underground hip-hop act Themselves and released the project's self-titled debut in May 2005.

Messerschmid departed in 2007; Andi Haberl took over on drums and made his recorded debut with the band on The Devil, You + Me in May 2008. For the sixth album the group adopted a fresh method, drawing inspiration from 1970s French film scores as well as mosaic-like records such as Cornelius' Fantasma and J Dilla's Donuts. Co-produced by Olaf Opal, the album also featured the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, of which Haberl was a member. The following year the Notwist reunited with Schmid for the soundtrack to his film Sturm. After another period devoted to side projects, including new albums from Lali Puna and 13 & God, the band supplied music for Schmid's 2012 film Home for the Weekend and began performing new material live late that year. They resurfaced with Close to the Glass in February 2014. Offering some of their most accessible songwriting alongside experimental instrumentation, the album received a nomination for European Independent Album of the Year at the 2015 IMPALA Awards. Gretschmann exited later in 2014; producer and multi-instrumentalist Cico Beck joined in his place. Early in 2015 the band released The Messier Objects, a set of instrumental pieces composed between The Devil, You + Me and Close to the Glass. The 2016 live album Superheroes, Ghostvillains & Stuff documented the second of three consecutive sold-out Leipzig performances from late 2015.

The Notwist members again focused on outside work, ranging from Beck's projects with Joasihno to curating the Munich indie rock festival Alien Disko. Through the festival, Beck and Markus Acher met Tenniscoats' Saya and Takashi Ueno and formed Spirit Fest with Jam Money's Mat Fowler. The ensemble promptly issued three albums of improvisation-based indie pop: Spirit Fest in 2017, Anohito in 2018, and Mirage Mirage in 2020. During the same span, Micha and Markus Acher established the instrumental folk-jazz group Hochzeitskapelle, which released The World Is Full of Songs in 2016, Wayfaring Suite in 2018, and If I Think of Love in 2019. The Notwist returned in 2020 with the soundtrack to Bastian Günther's film One of These Days and the Ship EP, which featured Saya on vocals and previewed the next album. Vertigo Days arrived in January 2021 as a flowing, suite-like collection that incorporated contributions from Juana Molina, Ben LaMar Gay, Angel Bat Dawid, the Japanese brass band Zayaendo, and new multi-instrumentalist Theresa Loibl. When the COVID-19 pandemic hindered touring, the band filmed and recorded a live performance in their Weilheim studio. Issued in February 2023, Vertigo Days: Live from Alien Research Center highlighted the jazz and Krautrock currents of the studio album through its spontaneous renditions.