Roberto Di Gioia: Web Web - Kover Kover

Web Web are a "German supergroup" releasing mostly their own material on the Munich-based Compost Records. All are heavily influenced by the spiritual sounds of the legendary Black Jazz and Strata East labels, the grooves of ethio-jazz, and the more experimental kraut-rock leanings of bands like Embryo. But their 2025 album Plexus Plexus tellingly included a cover of Moondog's "Bird's Lament." April 2026 sees the release of Kover Kover, where the band cover 14 songs for a whole album in their own style. Imagining they had penned the tunes themselves, they recorded according to the group's key principles; roles and instruments are often swapped, and freedom and space is given to members without hierarchy or vanity.

The choice of material is extremely broad. Roberto Di Gioia, the band's keyboard and synth wizard, played in Klaus Doldinger's Passport, who are represented by the versions of "Song Of Dying" and "Ataraxia." Fellow German artists Kruder & Dorfmeister have their trip-hop classic "High Noon" included, cleverly still including the "Blue Moon" sample but pitched down, and with the original's harmonica replaced by Tony Lakatos' saxophone. "We Are The People" by Australian band Empire of the Sun has the vocals taken on melodically by Lakatos on flute this time, to great effect. Nirvana's "Come As You Are" feels a little mystical, a little restrained perhaps given the intensity of the original. Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" is no more than a 90-second refrain. Maybe the band are teasing us, because next up is the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," a fun, swirling synth-and-drum machine cosmic jam.

The sense is that the band want to us to experience as much variety as possible. But honouring their German roots is clearly important, with the Black Forest MPS label repped by the inclusion of Dave Pike's "Big Schlepp," a funky breather before Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan," a version very close to the original in mood, but with Ozzy Osbourne's vocals stripped out. Similarly, their work on Dusseldorf-based piano-electronics duo Grandbrothers' "Bloodflow" is a tightly matched piece. This could not be said about the cover of "Once In A Lifetime" by the Talking Heads however, the only recognisable snippet being touches of the chorus on sax. This is a trance-like groove with none of the familiar bass line so often sampled in hip-hop. A highlight on the album is the cover of Grace Jones' "Slave To The Rhythm," with the well-known chorus played by Lakatos on sax plus firing drums from Peter Gall, yet with plenty of improvisation making this a unique Web Web version.

This is a bold album, with a surprising selection of songs for the band to tackle. Perhaps at live gigs they will extend the music for longer, but there will always be a compromise between time and presentation.