Laub

Laub have been around since ’96, releasing their work on
the kitty-yo label. they were the original pop reference
on the now internationally-successful berlin label, which
therewith managed to escape the 'post-rock' hype.
laub have, in the past, often been misinterpreted as trip-
hop-hopefuls. now, following three years of abstinence,
they are releasing their 3rd album: “filesharing”.

the word denotes a concept which primarily describes a mode
of working, in this case meaning that the record was mainly
produced in different places and only rarely together.
music and visuals emerged through individual processes and
the data was transferred through the world wide web or
computer networks - then edited, integrated, exchanged and
again transferred.

simultaneously, “filesharing” characterizes the life situation
of laub (antye greie-fuchs and jotka). it is a life which is
mainly determined through work and information in the
'network' - technically (www.) as well as in the social sense.
both artists became producers to retain total control of their
creative output and actions.
apart from being “self-controlled”, there have also been some
co-operations on this album. at the beginning of this year, antye
was invited by craig armstrong to participate on his solo record.
armstrong, who has been writing great film scores, is well known
in the pop world for his orchestral arrangements on madonna’s
“frozen” and also on massive attack songs. for laub, his inspiring
work shines through on the track “getriebe” from “filesharing”.
craig armstrong on antye greie-fuchs: “i’ve seen the future
in music”.

during the process of making the album, laub made the decision
to leave behind the traditional band concept (rock/pop and the
associated instrumentation), preferring instead the formation
of a “laptop project”.
they separated permanently from their friend and live drummer
sebastian vogel, who has in the meantime achieved fame with
another kitty-yo band: kante. other co-operations with vladislav
delay (luomo, mille plateaux), schaffhaeuser (ware), olaf bender
(raster noton), kaffee mathews (annette works) show how busy the
laubs have been during recent years.

jotka founded his own company (http://www.armeirre.de - streaming.
sound. visuals.) and antye made a solo record (agf - head slash bauch)
on orthlorng musork, san francisco (http://www.musork.com) and is
also running the kitty-yowebsite (http://www.kitty-yo.com).


the music

call it future pop or digital pop.
despite having a “non-traditional” band and their untypical way of
singer/songwriting, laub's “filesharing” is by no means a “clicks and
cuts” piece. it is about pop music.
compared to other artists who invoke the “future” to refresh
conventional song structures by producers or musicians by simply
incorporating a modern futuristic sound, laub genuinely innovate with
technique and involve jotka’s dialogue with innovative digital production
concepts and their impact [on sound]. sound and skills developed as a
consequence, a mixture of pop, experimental electronics, processing,
vocal treatment. laptops and file transfer protocol.
antye is “texting” in her own unique way that uses everyday language and
lyrical content. simple words form self created words. her “emotional
research” on language based on “old-school” imagery such as gears or
train stations progresses to more technical one.
an example of her text: “to result in onward development in code or is
evolution a cycle mode”. furthermore, she employs romantic devices such
as “we are riding the moped through lavender” amongst ice cold broken
beats and ambient backdrops.
one must say, her fusion of poetry and pop is very charming indeed.