Our Noise is the collaborative effort of Thaddeus Herrmann and Christian Kleine, on which they aim to find common ground between their very public adorations for 80s synth pop (Herrmann's passion) and instrumental hip-hop (Kleine's). The common ground they've found is early 90s UK indie-- apparently the point at which the Venn diagrams marked 'Visage-y synth-pop' and 'DJ Premier's dopest beatz' intersect is Slowdive's Souvlaki. My incredulity in no way impeaches Souvlaki-- it is, after all, the über-shoegazer album. Rather, I'm perplexed that delicate and stylistically conservative shoegazing would be the arena where experimental IDM chaps like Herrmann and Kleine would find shared passions.

So instead of, for instance, a renewed take on Suicide that would expose fey electroclashers for the posturing clotheshorses they truly are, Our Noise is a serene and utterly unchallenging collection. Opening with "Drop," the duo set the parameters of the template they'll use extensively and predictably for the next 45 minutes. The track perfectly combines blunted beats with chiming ethereality, and does so in such a precise and calculated manner that the track that follows it, "Her Tune," is almost indistinguishable. The mopey, angelic mood that characterized Chapterhouse's Whirlpool and Northern Picture Library's entire output prevails-- unmodified and unchecked. It's only when a fast-running marimba comes into the third track, "Kissing You," at 120 BPM that I notice any difference at all.

As if to pay even more blatant homage to the indie scene of a decade ago, Herrmann and Kleine cover a 'lost classic'-- Slab Happy's "Blue Flower." The fanboys amongst you will immediately point out that elegant maudlineers Pale Saints and Mazzy Star have already covered "Blue Flower," which makes it kind of a shoe-y standard, I suppose. And within the Our Noise frame of reference, it's a perfectly fitting cover. Herrmann and Kleine's version is gorgeous, but evanescent: Ariane Henselís voice is well-suited to mimic Hope Sandoval's. But like every track here, it's just too damn insubstantial to make me do anything but pass onto the next song without pause or consideration.

Furthering their wallpaper strategy on "Wonder," Herrmann and Kleine give their no doubt accurate artistic impression of Slowdive's "Catch The Breeze"-- as remixed by Plastikman, then chilled-out by the Grid. In the course of "Wonder" I can distinctly perceive each of the three evolutionary stages and am mildly amused, but "Wonder" is hardly a worthy object of excessive contemplation-- it's an uncomplicated and ultimately purposeless rendering.

It's impossible not to assess Our Noise as anything but as boilerplate IDM-inflected shoegazing-- it's the work of talented musicians sculpting guileless sound in lieu of substance. I hope the next time they collaborate, Herrmann and Kleine investigate what separates them instead of what homogenizes them.

-Paul Cooper, May 14th, 2002