HTRK - Nostalgia(Fire Records) (Print)

HTRK (pronounced Hate Rock) seem impeccably cool. Based in Berlin and London (though originally from Melbourne), all three band members come with model-good looks, an education in the Krautrock scene second-to-none, and, seemingly, a total indifference to wearing clothes. Then they effortlessly knock out Nostalgia, a seven-track debut, apparently recorded live using just two microphones and an old tape deck. Inspiration for hard-up, avant-garde noiseniks aside, it's a technique that produces an otherworldly, abrasive but none-the-less, wholly immersive end result. [Darren Carle]