Cloudland Canyon - Lie In Light

Years ago when Michael Rother (known from Krautrock group Neu!) went to see Stereolab live, he thought he was listening to himself. Then again he admitted that the group also included other stylistic elements to their Neu-influenced sound. How would the legendary Krautrock innovator judge the Cloudland Canyon duo, who is more openly aping the Krautrock legends like Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia, Popol Vuh, perhaps even pre-electronic Kraftwerk? It's understandable that one half of this American duo is also German. However, considering the strong avant-garde legacy in the German music scene (Stockhausen, the cream of the Krautrock crop, Neubauten, Mouse on Mars etc), the inescapable conclusion is that there's nothing new to be found here. Of course Lie In Light is well done and they sound very authentic as a Kraut tribute act. Teutonic feel is in its place here definitely. Particularly in the songs with vocals. A few of the numbers recall early Spiritualized. Nonetheless, Cloudland Canyon could benefit from having more uniqueness to their approach.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation