Hausfrau - Trivial Pursuits EP

Ahhhhhhhhh, minimal techno...You folks have no doubt heard about "Wine Wankery"? If not, it's where people go on and on about the wine they are drinking as to the side of the mountain, it's fruity (or not? it's wine right, from fruit) and the obvious texture owing to only three hours of sunlight during the autumnal part of the year and cloud cover and kill me now. I'm sure you get my point. This wankery can be adapted to anything where it all gets a little over the top in descriptive verbiage to where the average/casual fan or participant of said anything goes, "Wanker!"

Don't misunderstand me; I'm totally guilty of it.  Read past reviews right (And this one as I go probably)? My point being is that minimal techno can fall heavily into this wankery and for the most part when it does, completely neuters the actual music. So while I could rabbit on about the artistic relevance of Hausfrau's Trivial Pursuits, it would be complete bollocks, and here is why. Its just plain awesome!
 
Four tracks at just under eighteen minutes of lovely bass/kick driven minimal techno and the female vocals of sole member Claudia Nova. Based out of Glasgow Scotland, Nova has released this four track EP as a two year on follow up to the eight track full length album Night Tides in 2014 also touring the UK and Europe. Although I've not heard the album I shall be off to the interweb to buy it based on the strength of this release.

'Uptight' starts off the EP with deep kicks setting the pulse with whirring metallic sweeps which lead into vocals, which I will define a little later in the review and is what could be called traditionally minimal techno. 'Trivial Pursuits' is the second track and its here you start to understand where Hausfrau is musically. As the first track, lyrically clever and slightly smartarse, which is brilliant, funny and if you're honest, true and exactly what you were thinking on the subject at hand. This track features the best two lines I have heard in music for some time, 'Your girlfriend is seeing other men, you're just a seven, she's a ten'.  

A cover of Wang Chungs 'Dance Hall Days' is the third track. Now, we've all heard a bunch of covers of this track before. This one is the best. End of. It's what you would expect with minimal tech but so damn warm and comforting. Trivial Pursuits' last track is 'Flesh of my Flesh'. Again with the big kicks and sweeps and lovely vox in the track and the sweet, loving and painful.

So I assume this is the bit you would like to know the "sounds like" thing. Well, briefly let's say early, and I mean early, new wave just out of the cold wave timing wise. A little more expansive; lets say you can hear early Ultravox, Human League, Heaven 17 and New Order (add a pinch of Joy Division) but here is the separation to those bands: female vocals. Those vox make it different and wonderful and sweet and melancholy and bitter and soul crushing. Dare I say it, but like early Siouxsie Sioux with a little more depth and mass in the vocal.

So there it is . A long review for a short EP . I've dropped all the tracks into my DJ set folder as they work well in the lighter part of electro sets when you need space in your music and its a great start if you are wanting your first experience or already fans of the genre of minimal techno. Ignore the wankery, including mine on this review.

 Just get Hausfrau's Trivial Pursuits, its fucking brilliant!


Jun 20 2017