Von Spar

German quartet Von Spar emerged from Cologne's 2003 formation by Sebastian Blume, Jan Philipp Janzen, Christopher Marquez, Phillip Tielsch, and Thomas Mahmoud, tracing a path across post-punk, Krautrock, and synth pop that moved from the raw, dance-charged clamor of their opening release to the polished, restrained propulsion heard on Under Pressure in 2019. Their first recording, the 2004 album Die uneingeschränkte Freiheit der privaten Initiative, fused dance-punk with noise and aligned the band with the rising wave fronted by LCD Soundsystem and Death from Above 1979. The 2007 self-titled follow-up fully adopted the steady Motorik pulse of Can, Neu!, and Harmonia, presenting two extended twenty-minute tracks that shifted between abrasive textures, driving synth patterns, and tuneful guitar work; shortly afterward vocalist Mahmoud departed, leaving the remaining members to continue as a quartet. Their third effort, Foreigner, arrived in 2010 and steered closer to those foundational influences while dialing back earlier turbulence. The group then joined Stephen Malkmus for a live rendering of Can's Ege Bamyasi captured at Week-End Fest in Cologne. Streetlife, their fourth album, came the next year and revisited prior elements while adding touches of eighties synth pop. Five years passed before the release of their fifth record, Under Pressure, issued on Bureau B—the imprint known for reviving works by Cluster and Faust—which marked the first time Von Spar enlisted outside contributors, among them Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, R. Stevie Moore, and Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi.