FIVE BUBBLES CRITERIA - TEMPORARY SECONDARY RESIDENCES (CD-R)

"Byron Coley in The Wire, July 2026:"Super Polar Taips MC Cologne's Five Bubble Criteria are a mysterious organisation (or person), usually identified only as a side project related to Bleed Air, which is itself an anonymous synth based German solo venture. Recorded one track at a time in various places over the course of nearly a decade, the pieces making up their second release originally came out digitally and individually as they were finished. This tape (editor's note) and the CD) is the first time they've been collected. And like Five Bubble Criteria's debut, the sound is more in a slippery post-rock bag than the work of their mothership. Created with bass and baritone guitars, glockenspiel, vibes, old synths, etc, the music makes me think of how people describe early records by Tortoise (albeit shorn of jazzoid content). Instrumental, apart from a single vocal track by Michael Cramm of Cologne's Van Zoyd, the tracks generally flow at a leisurely pace with gentle melodic constructions that emit a certain rural scent while maintaining their avant garde trajectory. The sole vocal track is probably my favourite, what with its slinky early 1970s vibe and mysteriously space-oriented spoken bits. But the whole thing is quite fine, and at 80 minutes or so, it provides real value for your money! " (label info)