DJ KOZE - Knock Knock

May 4, 2018 - Pampa Records

DJ Koze, DJ Koze. DJ Koze’s newest album Knock Knock may be the only sound poem I’ve ever heard, though having been to college and in a liberal arts building I heard the term often. The album jukes from vaguely fantastical to ineffable mystic experience. The first cut, ‘Club der Ewigkeiten,’ which translates to “club of eternities,” is a sumptuous revisioning of Valhalla for club dwellers. It’s a compelling opener. Perhaps DJ Koze’s most adeptly crafted track, ‘Club der Ewigkeiten’ plays with discord and one particular sour note, putting off harmonies introducing non sequitur rhythms and pitches, which in the end reveal satisfying sonorous parallels. Though the album is comprised of sixteen tracks, the essence of transformation and gist of what Koze is up to with his wry ageless set-up of a title can be gathered in the first few tracks.

‘Bonfire,’ track two, follows the surprising structure and non-musical relationships with its own mutations. Back to the ground. From heaven, to those of us looking heavenward. The song substantiates with calming beach-like rhythms and an ethereal mantra, the most distinctive line of which is, “Face away from the sun,” markedly punctuated with deep synth wub-wubs. Whether it’s ode to a daydream or an imagining of near death is hard to say, and unnecessary. Narratively, this song is transportive—a non musical voice breaking into to the dreamy layers, “Hey. Hey!” But the voice does not wake the dreamer. 

A single character on a journey inward or outward, ’This Feels Like Moving in a Liquid,’ featuring Eddie Fulmer, does less to tickle the ear and more to create an atmosphere of dissociated consciousness. Though tightly composed and well executed, the track comes off almost banal. In its self-description, ‘This Feels Like Moving in a Liquid,’ is a bit of exposition to keep the story of Knock Knock moving along. 

‘Colors of Autumn’ takes a complete tonal shift—peeling the layers to reverie. Todd Thomas, a.k.a. Speech of the 90’s hip hop collective Arrested Development, provides the vocal accompaniment to the track, delivering unapologetic lines so nearly conversational they threaten to lose tempo, but don’t. The song is plucky with nostalgic guitar and lightly peppered with cassette fuzz. It’s a self aware track hinting at something atemporal. DJ Koze has built for himself a strong reputation as a strict observer of the political advances and trends of dance-music production. He’s couched himself as a musical philosopher, exploring existential loose ends of emotion. “We are the colors of Autumn,” Speech says in the titular refrain, explaining to his lost lover. The moment is of rewritten memory, of voicing over the past. Their beautiful yet fleeting relationship has bubbled up during near-death.

A sleepy dream pop featuring José Gonzalez, ‘Music on My Teeth,’ picks up where ‘Colors of Autumn’ leaves off. The track feels much shorter than it is, a tribute to Koze’s aptitude for cerebral dreamy production. The track subtly changes shape the whole way through, culminating in a raspy Caribbean or similar-region monologue from an anonymous musician, “I play music from 7:30 … to about 6:30 in the morning.” A sense of home and long-lasting community develops out of those words. Koze’s series of associative leaps and rearrangements weave a nebulous circular track that structurally reflects the nature of the entire album.

DJ Koze (Stefan Kozalla) expresses no adherence to musical boundary or genre. Which if passively listening, can give the impression of a lack of connective tissue. Those familiar with Koze will have a greater since of patience and attentiveness for threads running through, but those swept away by the initial brave and masterful track may find themselves misled. This is a bit of Kozalla’s playfulness at work. A vast eclectic story is unfolding in Knock Knock. A story which leans on insinuation and atmosphere, small hints and glimmers of character and locations. A vignette of romping death experiences, the title should clue all of us into Kozalla’s mischievous wandering. Who is there. And who is where. And just who. ⛰️