Rock music is converging more and more into jazz & electronic music, with unconventional compositions & song structures and thank God MTV has not delved into this territory yet. Manufactur is a Swiss 4 piece that wrestles formulaic music with their own homebrew jazzy math-rock. Trumpeter Werner Hasler, Electronician Oli Kuster, Bassist Urban Lienert and Drummer Dominik Burkhalter all come from major cities of Switzerland like Bern, Lucerne and Zurich, no wonder they have a remarkably European sound.

“Flambitres” is out on the minor Rent-a-dog label which is also home to Botanica and Victory of the Better Man. The landmark track for me has been “Cliche” with the shrill guitarlike riff and the driving rhythm that resembles Trans Am, but the title track “Flambitres“, the on-and-off’s of “Genso“, post-rockish driver “Funn Manzini” and the offbeat “Jaume” and most of the remaining tracks are all terrific compositions. It wouldn’t be a mistake to say Manufactur has defined their own “post-fusion” sound, thanks to everyone but especially Kuster’s gluey electronics who is introduced as “the master of the right colour and intensity”. “Flambitres” is full of dense and multi-layered songs that require countless listens (preferably with headphones on some of those) and manage to find the right balance between experiment and convention.