Neon Golden holds a personal romance for me — its songs illuminate scenes from a past life with a former lover — the streets of Berkeley, California in fall and the harmonious whirring of the underground train taking me to my small Oakland apartment. The familiar sounds of this past Notwist album are present in the group’s most recent work, The Devil, You + Me, with an enhancement and an age befitting an artistic maturation. 

The Devil, You + Me is an artistic work. Though music and sound as a practice of art is not a revolutionary idea, some practice it better than others. Each song on the album is a practice in balance of complex sound and simplicity. The album’s title track is as simple as we have heard The Notwist — guitar and voice, stark if not poetic lyrics, and an overall mood that creates a room of sound.

The live show the band delivered on October 29, 2008 was equally as ambient and creatively charged. The group led the crowd into familiar songs from the Neon Golden and The Devil, You + Me albums, as well as some older works throughout the night. Just as we got comfortable with the groove and the clicks, they went off on tangents which turned into bypasses and then back into songs.

Most interestingly, stage right was what seems to be a rigged Wii console, played by Martin Gretschman (AKA CONSOLE), who danced and jigged to the sounds he created with two Wii remotes all night long.

This show was one of the most satisfying blends of art and music I have experienced in a long, long time. It’s nice to know that bands like Notwist can still “bring it.”

Photos by Nicole Mournian