Headless Society is the project of German bassist David Helm that melts improvised music with electronic dance club music and krautrock, all modified Gameboys, junk guitar, an old Echolette tape echo, brand new synthesizers, microphones, electronified saxophone, bass and two drummers.
A is the debut album of this band, made his selection from many hours of audio material, captured live at ACEPHALE club in Cologne during several monthly shows in 2019 and 2020, and through post-production by Helm and producer Jan Philipp, who also did the mixing and mastering.
The music of Headless Society adopts Sun Ra’s advice of playing «perfectly wrong notes» and it is indeed a strange spaceship full of sound on a journey to planets of freedom. It is unpredictable and untamed, celebrating without a reason. You can decide if you want to stretch your limbs and dance to it or try to analyze what is going on in this band’s sonic mayhem, with its many hyperactive detours. Obviously, it is possible to do both at the same time. It reaches its climax at the last piece, «Full House».
Club owner Dima Oboukhov, himself a music connoisseur and writer in his own right, encouraged this unique sonic initiative, all the while passionately dispensing vodka. Oboukhov approached synth player Philip Zoubek and sax player Leonhard Huhn with the idea of presenting concerts in his club. Headless Society also features synth player-guitarist Christian Lorenzen, electronics player Kenn Hartwig and drummers Dominik Mahnig and Thomas Sauerborn.
Eyal Hareuveni
Leonhard Huhn (saxophone, voice), Philip Zoubek (synthesizer), Christian Lorenzen (synthesizer, guitar), Kenn Hartwig (Gameboy, circuit bending), David Helm (bass, voice), Dominik Mahnig (drums), Thomas Sauerborn (drums)