Album: Marbert Rocel

Speed Emotions (Compost)

"We don't make music, we make collages of feelings," say the German techno outfit Marbert Rocel of their debut album. A trio matching DJ/producers Marcel Aue and Robert Krause with nonchalant vocalist Antje Seifarth, their music combines the chilled aural landscaping of Kruder & Dorfmeister with the micro-sample rhythmic detail of Matthew Herbert or Charles Webster, creating a surprisingly warm and soulful form of techno in which marimba, guitar and clarinet parts are as welcome as keyboard riffs. Most tracks start slowly but undergo a decisive change about two minutes in, usually by the introduction of a new beat, like the whopping great Basement Jaxx-style backbeat that rouses "Eleanor Birdbath", or the understated ska offbeat that turns the single "Beats Like Birds" on its head. Seifarth adds a certain naive but sophisticated charm, musing happily about her beloved as she breakfasts on cereal in "Cornflakeboy", pondering astronomical matters in "Seven Stars" and reflecting on "blue days without you" in "Blue Days".

Download this: 'Seven Stars', 'Beats Like Birds', 'Red Shoes'