INFORMATION:
Conquering Animal Sound's debut album KAMMERSPIEL is essentially pop music but in the way the likes of Fever Ray or Bjork portray pop music. Where Conquering Animal Sound differ is in their love for tape hiss and childrens toys. There is no doubt, with this record they are in a world of their own.

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PRESS:

"By doing a lot of little things well, without making any grand gestures, Glasgow duo Conquering Animal Sound have here crafted a delightful debut album which tinkles and buzzes, chimes and crackles with real promise. It feels like a debut in the senses that one senses there’s plenty more to come – but at the same time, it’s a satisfyingly complete listen, a fully rounded full-length which rewards repeat listens with the discovery of charming new details and nuances." BBC

“With Kammerspiel, Conquering Animal Sound have simultaneously managed to capture on record the full depth of their creativity and imagination, as well as the inherent beauty of their sound. It is a wonderful piece of work which deseves to be cherished, and gives us far more than we might reasonably expect from anyone’s debut album."
DROWNED IN SOUND 8/10

"With Bjork off astral travelling in the outer realms of out-sound, there's been a gap left in the musical landscape. Where do we go now for perfectly crafted female-fronted electronic pop? Sure there's a few options, but few with the glacial, near-ambient bliss of the Icelandic snow-queen, that is until Kammerspiel came along. Despite having a name that would suggest otherwise the band hail from Glasgow (via Edinburgh) and their music seems primed to fit into a warm spot right next to 'Homogenic' and 'Vespertine' on your shelf. Sure the production might these days owe just as much to omnipresent overlords The xx, but there is an overwhelming sense of opera and scope, something the nonchalant chill-wave set would struggle with at best. 'Conquering Animal Sound' is a pop record, but one with just enough smarts to get even the most po-faced experimental music obsessive to take notice, you'll certainly be missing out if you don't." BOOMKAT

"Although the mistiness of pop has definitely lost its luster throughout so many continuously repetitive drives of the same style, the same sense, the same structure and much more; there’s still the conquering ability of being able to turn the everyday pop we know into something far more meaningful. Artists like Björk and Fever Ray mesh various other genres into their ‘pop sound’ and therefore, it could never be simply classified or, more fittingly, dismissed, as nothing more than basic pop. New duo Conquering Animal Sound has prescribed to that same method of thinking with a debut album that is quickly catching fire as one of the brighter pop releases of 2011" DOA

“A warm, human record with melodies which although sometimes as fractured and fragmented as the cover image, manage to worm themselves into the listener’s mind. I defy anyone not to find Kammerspiel an engaging and uplifting piece of work.”
SONGS HEARD ON FAST TRAINS

"A promising debut and definite grower that slowly weaves its spell upon the listener and leaves you wanting more." SOUNDBLAB

"The sight of woodland shards in the artwork, and the sound of Maschine trickling into life via stuttering bells, syncopated handclaps and double-tracked vocals, intimate a solid metaphor for Conquering Animal Sounds’ aesthetic: the organic and the electronic coexisting beautifully. Various comparisons flicker into earshot: Anneke Kampman’s vocals are Björk -like on some tracks, reminiscent of Sally Shapiro on others; the gentle instrumentation has close affinities with Iceland’s Múm or Sweden’s The Deer Tracks throughout; while a domestic thread is traceable from Wild Things’ mechanical wash to Mogwai’s Rock Action. But following such threads never threatens to unravel Kammerspiel’s gracefully busy tapestry of scuffling electronic loops and toy-box tics. It’s difficult to believe this is their first full-length release; all parts interlock with crystalline clarity, the complexity of the whole is secreted beneath precisely-placed layers of sound. For some, this is confirmation of the significant promise demonstrated live; for others, it will be a remarkable unveiling." THE SKINNY 4/5

"Through fascinating use of short, simple layers and suitable samples built up to a complex and overwhelming whole, Conquering Animal Sound came, saw and conquered and all on their first album. Exciting stuff!" BEARDED

"Conquering Animal Sound may not be the righteous sound of Jah descending to Holy Mount Zion, but expect to hear this on community radios and university stereos this late summer. Kammerspiel is a near-perfect pop album; finely crafted and compelling, plus it doesn’t overstay its welcome." CYCLIC DEFROST

“Kammerspiel is a strange beguiling creature which plays out in it’s own world, it is at times fragile, at others noisy, often vulnerable and sometimes scary. Full appreciation of its complex charms require immersion in this world to absorb and form your own interpretation of its ever fluctuating and adapting landscapes. Whether or not it’s actually the conquering of animal sound is anyone’s guess but it is thoroughly impressive and almost certainly one of the most accomplished debuts 2011 will see."  THE LINE OF BEST FIT

“Variety is the order of the day with Conquering Animal Sound. The boy / girl duo have taken what sounds like velcro, tape hiss, creaking chairs, clay pots, keys and a bewildering array of toy instruments, tossed them through a series of effects and used whatever comes out as building blocks for their unique take on song writing. In the wrong hands these materials would only contribute to rather soulless music, but somehow these guys draw vivacity from inanimate metal objects with ease. Originally Edinburgh based, the duo share the melancholy down-tempo spirits of fellow city successes Meursault, but with a greater aversion to anything that might be deemed a bog standard instrument. That said, they still manage to weave addictive melodies and pop structures into their curious soundscapes, the glue being Anneke Kampman’s nonchalant yet beguiling set of vocal chords. She sits, peculiarly, somewhere between Bjork and Alanis Morissette, and doesn’t come off any worse for it. Her vocals are warped and harmonized, rarely settling at one point in the swirling stereo across 11 songs.There’s enough variety in sound, structure and emotion here to keep you intrigued for countless listens, and just the right amount of indiscernible noise.”
NARC MAGAZINE 4/5

'Kammerspiel, to put it quite simply, is a beautiful album. Embracing a number of different moods and aesthetics, from the delicately cute - 'Maschine', 'Giant' - to the haunting and mesmerising - 'Wasp', 'Bear', and 'Flinch' - this is an engrossing debut album from the newly Glasgow-based duo. Recorded at home, these eleven tracks mix electronic textures with live instrumentation - violin, guitar, harp, percussion and a grab-bag of other assorted sounds, including lids' toys - and are glued together by the beguiling sweetness of Anneke Kampman's layered vocals. Both alluring and foot-tapping, the album soothes as much as it makes your heart race, and though they aren't the first or the last musicians to dive into the realm of laptop-led electronic experimentation, it still sounds refreshing. As interesting as their own approach may be, though, it's ultimately secondary to the resulting songs themselves, which lock together to form a sweet and addictive record.'
ROCK-A-ROLLA

“Kammerspiel is a remarkable debut, astonishing even.”
TIDALWAVE OF INDIFFERENCE BLOG – ALBUM OF THE WEEK

"Put quite simply this is pretty much an astonishing, beautiful sounding album that shows that the previously released singles (Giant, Wildthings and Bear, all included here) were far from flukes. There is nothing on the album weaker than those singles and the word filler doesn't appear to be in the Conquering Animal Sound vocabulary. Kammerspiel is a fantastic album to get lost in. Everyone has their songs and records that come in useful after a bad day, when needing to clear their head, or to put them in their happy place. This is one of mine now. Worth the wait? Goodness yes. If there's many debut albums better than this, in fact many better albums at all, then this will be a fantastic year for music."
AYE TUNES BLOG

RELEASE DATE:
February 7th 2011

TRACKLISTING:
1. Maschine
2. Wasp
3. Wildthings
4. Flinch
5. Cheer
6. Bear
7. Crawl
8. Tracer
9. Neanderthal
10. Giant
11. Ira

CREDITS:
Anneke Kampman / James Scott

ARTWORK:
Dan Bryant / Anneke Kampman

LINKS:
Conquering Animal Sound website

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