Tarwater

Tarwater, a German duo comprising Bernd Jestram and Ronald Lippok, have recorded several albums of distinctive, sometimes instrumental music which fuses live instrumentation with loops and samples, veering from detached indie rock songwriting to subdued textural experiments. They are frequently tagged as post-rock or indie electronic, partially because of Lippok's involvement in <a href="spotify:artist:0DRlmNJq133uYhzXxJfF3a">To Rococo Rot</a>, a trio that has recorded for experimental independents such as <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Soul+Static+Sound%22">Soul Static Sound</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22City+Slang%22">City Slang</a>. First appearing in 1996 with 11|6 12|10, Tarwater earned international acclaim with 1998's Silur, which edged toward trip-hop. They continued mixing abstract indie rock with more cinematic electronic elements on further albums like Animals, Suns & Atoms (2000) and The Needle Was Travelling (2005), then issued their first soundtrack, Donne-moi la main, in 2009. Tarwater collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:33EUXrFKGjpUSGacqEHhU4">Iggy Pop</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1zrqDVuh55auIRthalFdXp">Alva Noto</a> for the 2016 EP Leaves of Grass, and the duo's first full-length in a decade, Nuts of Ay, appeared in 2024.

Guitarist/bassist/programmer Jestram and drummer/vocalist/programmer Lippok met in an East German punk band, and began recording together even while Lippok recorded with <a href="spotify:artist:0DRlmNJq133uYhzXxJfF3a">To Rococo Rot</a> and Jestram worked in his Bleibeil studio. A bit more organic and much more tied to pop than <a href="spotify:artist:0DRlmNJq133uYhzXxJfF3a">To Rococo Rot</a>, Tarwater debuted with 1996's 11|6 12|10, released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kitty-Yo%22">Kitty-Yo</a> around the same time that Lippok's other concern issued their first material. Rabbit Moon Revisited and Rabbit Moon Remixed both reworked material from the debut, and Tarwater's second LP, Silur, followed in 1998. The critical praise attendant on the latter earned Tarwater American distribution through a deal with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mute%22">Mute</a>, with Animals, Suns & Atoms appearing in 2000 and Dwellers on the Threshold two years later. A limited album of pieces for soundtracks and compilations, Not the Wheel, was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Gusstaff+Records%22">Gusstaff Records</a> in early 2001.

Tarwater moved to indie electronic label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Morr+Music%22">Morr Music</a> with 2005's The Needle Was Travelling and 2007's Spider Smile. Musique Originale du Film Donne-moi la main appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Gusstaff%22">Gusstaff</a> in 2009. The Polish label also released Tarwater's limited 5-CD box set 1996-2002. Krautrock-heavy imprint <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Bureau+B%22">Bureau B</a> then issued 2011's Inside the Ships and its 2014 follow-up Adrift, as well as Record Store Day split EPs with <a href="spotify:artist:6YuaNIJm6LAKBvRdb8PGIt">Kreidler</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2JXu9pnEe9hk687zABNVs1">Sølyst</a>. Returning to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Morr%22">Morr</a>, Tarwater collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:33EUXrFKGjpUSGacqEHhU4">Iggy Pop</a> (reciting Walt Whitman poems) and <a href="spotify:artist:1zrqDVuh55auIRthalFdXp">Alva Noto</a> on the 2016 EP Leaves of Grass. Tarwater worked with <a href="spotify:artist:70rsyhGzfQKX1k8QZDzK1d">Immersion</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:7lm6HTAFVQjYvB0kniM6UN">Colin Newman</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1QpYmgR7tk2xCFdQ9Plezi">Malka Spigel</a>), appearing on the first three tracks of 2021's Nanocluster Vol. 1. In 2024, Tarwater released their first album in ten years, the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Morr%22">Morr</a>-issued Nuts of Ay. The album incorporated lyrics by <a href="spotify:artist:2bT9Q41I9AVi3OZLb6yMP2">Derek Jarman</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:68lZHeroea1NAuEDsfBUjv">Shane MacGowan</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4x1nvY2FN8jxqAFA0DA02H">John Lennon</a>, and others. ~ John Bush & Paul Simpson, Rovi