Weird - A Different Kind of Normal. 1999 England / Germany

Weird (stylized as wEirD) were the duo of Andy Blyce and Jens Peschke, under a couple of silly pseudonyms. Though it's not really meant to hide the artists, as it's pretty clear in the booklet who is doing the heavy lifting here. Both gentlemen are the founders of the Berlin School band Kubusschnitt, so if you're already familiar with their albums, then A Different Kind of Normal won't be too much of a surprise. Primarily Weird sets out to perform a homage to the early 70s Krautrock movement, that of course was also heavily engaged in electronic music. And they took a page from the Electric Orange playbook with the fun song titles 'Klaus to the Edge', 'Manuel Gearchange', etc... Just as with the Cosmic Couriers before them, there's shedloads of psychedelic guitar and mellotron (likely simulated), along with the usual sequencers. There's also some beats, so it's not entirely retro in that sense. The 90s really were the heydey of the retro Berlin School movement, and Weird also gives us some classic Krautrock to enjoy as well. An album that still needs discovery.

Ownership: CD: 1999 New Harmony. Like what seems to be half of my collection, I bought this in its day, filed it, and now have rediscovered the CD hiding in the shelves.