Audiopile Review: A long out of print and important piece from Brannten Schnüre’s mid-period gets another chance to cast its eerie glow. 2017’s Muschelsammlung might be considered the last of their albums before the underground finally caught up to them, and it’s also one of the more accessible points of entry into the duo’s now formidable catalog. With vocalist Katie Rich at the forefront through much of Muschelsammlung, her sweet speak-sing and childlike presence is a ballast amidst the whir of rustic instrumentation and looping ephemera that the duo lift from German folk music and gothic hymnals. As usual, there are plenty of reference points that we’ve made here or seen elsewhere that veer close to capturing the mystic wooziness that Brannten Schnüre conjure, whether it’s Coil’s late period folkloric seances, Ghédalia Tazartès’ electro-acoustic exoticism, the lo-fi bedroom concrete of the Gothenburg scene, or the blurred nostalgia of the Caretaker at his most cracked. But recently listening back on this mesmerizing LP’s integration of folkier traditions with repurposed music from the fading past, we can’t help but also hear a bit of Broadcast, particularly their later “occult” period. Most obvious between the two groups is the pastoral innocence embodied by both the late Trish Keenan and Katie Rich, but its both duos juxtaposing the starry-eyed vocals with fragmentary and lysergic collages that find the pair criss-crossing on the same plane of hauntological wonder. Admittedly, Brannten Schnüre is not for everyone, but if you were spell-bound by Broadcast’s final album, Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age, or the posthumously released Berberian Sound Studio, then Muschelsammlung might just be your bag. If you’re already on board with Brannten Schnüre, you know what to do. New edition of 250, silksreened jackets, sold out at the source. Don’t snooze.

Weaving a singular brand of DIY Minimalism, intertwining elements of folk, musique concrète, ambient, and electroacoustic music, Brannten Schnüre return to center stage with a due repress of what is widely regarded as their most impressive full-length release, “Muschelsammlung”, originally released in 2017 on Dutch label Vrystaete in a micro-edition of 150 copies. Laying the groundwork for the singular sonic landscapes that we’ve all come to adore, it’s an absolutely stunning and engrossing piece of work that can’t be missed.