Bodi Bill and art techno feedback centricity of "Loophole Travelling" (Official Video)

 

"space traveling brain cells dissolving into clouds, ready to hand the keys over to the IT crowd..."

I remember in my youth hearing the joke, 'A horse walks in to a bar and the bartender says, "why the long face?'. It is utterly silly but somehow it made me laugh and kind of still does to this day. I realized when I got older that jokes like this are not funny because they are necessarily clever. You don't  even laugh at the word play but, instead at the absurdity of the situation and the abject stupidity of what is said. The laugh teeters on embarrassment really on how ridiculous the joke is not the situation. 

That joke did come to mind when I listened to "Loophole Travelling" by the Berlin art pop outfit Bodi Bill, not that this amazing track is the slightest bit funny. There are however bits of absurd revelations in the sort of surrealist outlook of the lyrics that shoot barbs at the absurdity of social media mavens. Bodi Bill's playfulness extends to the wacky Official Video and I love all that but mostly I am struck by musical narrative, the journey built on whimsical keys, synth dance grooves and especially Fabian Fenk's amazing vocal aesthetic that contain a fribrous emotionality and artfully soars up to beautiful gritty falsettos. The whimsy techno sound that also pushes 80's majestic new wave meets romance wave tones like something between Limahl and Roxy Music is as captivating as it is minimalistic. Bodi Bill doesn't clutter things up with unnecessary noise or bluster and that is so refreshing.  

"Loophole Travelling" is a laconic comment on the willy-nilly mishmash content delivered by the shimmering world of influencers. Fenk explains: "The song takes place in this weirdly assembled reality. Copy + paste, things often appear to be much more substantial than they are. Feelings and meanings remain blurry. Oh, and speaking of, there's also some Space X stuff in it, again!"

"Loophole Traveling" is also the name of the EP were the track resides. You can listen to the entire EP on the band's Bandcamp page and elsewhere. Now enjoy the Official Video written, directed and edited by Fabian Fenk himself.  

-Robb Donker Curtius

* * *

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:


http://www.bodibill.de/

https://twitter.com/bill_bodi

https://www.facebook.com/bodibill

https://www.instagram.com/bodibill.berlin/


An ode to trial-and-error, to DIY and to friendship: Bodi Bill are a band that works within contexts. Now they are picking up the thread again. "Kiss Operator", the first track in almost seven years, offers a first glimps on Bodi Bill's music to come. A little meditation on optimism and confidence, the track gets quickly to what Bodi Bill is and always was: the joy of experimenting, mutual creative motivation, unconditional curiosity.

For almost seven years there was no new music. Up to this point Bodi Bill are pioneers of a modern musical eclecticism of techno, folk and indie. Out of the blue and without much clamor, they grow into the hearts of their listeners, making them burst, again and again in sweaty live shows. At the band's climax, other experiments become more interesting and more important. Since 2012 Fabian Fenk and Anton Feist carry tenderness into techno with The/Das, while Alex Stolze works on linking urban pop music with the intimate soundsphere of traditional instruments with his band UNMAP as well as under his own name. Above all, however, they leave an empty space that has not yet been filled.

Bodi Bill, then and now, is all about the exchange of ideas, creative processes, and attentive interaction. The band reflects a large circle of creative friends, who sometimes work together loosely, sometimes more closely, and whose motivation is always based on content. Being knots in that loose net, Bodi Bill unify all the energies again. With newly found calmness they throw out old working methods, challenge the band and each other, and instead of giving answers they rather ask counterquestions.

"I think helping each other to shape one's life creatively is an important motivation for making music," says Fabian Fenk. "In the best case, the music should bear witness to this. Not to stroke egos, but simply to get to know like-minded people. And to make cool shit together."

Bodi Bill, techno, folk electronic, synthwave, 80's tones, "Loophole Travelling", make cool shit together, indie music, art pop, Fabian Fenk, Anton Feist, Alex Stolze, Berlin,