Welcome Vermont – no, not the American state famous for autumnal foliage, dappled bridges and Ben & Jerry’s ambrosial deliciousness. This is a pairing of German visionaries – Innervisions’ Marcus Worgull and Danilo Plessow of Motor City Drum Ensemble fame – who are hellbent on subverting electronica and Krautrock with their eponymous debut. Thankfully, their label – the legendary Kompakt – is more than willing to let them. The duo’s first full-length is a collection of “loose jam sessions”, synthetic experiments and soundscape chasms the size of the Grand Canyon. It’s not an easy listen by any means. Ye have been warned.

“Majestaet”, with rolling marimbas and the odd plinky-plonk thrown in, is carried by and large by it’s luxurious lounge-jazz/funk melody. It’s kinda cheesy elevator muzak-sounding, but it the context of the rattlesnake tropicalia, it works splendidly. “Rückzug” is similarly buoyant, with bouncing ’90s house squelches and squeaky polystyrene synths. There’s a neo-soul vibe surrounding it, propelled by the graceful keys and crashing tide pads. It’s not all blissed-out music though, and a hefty portion veers down darker avenues. Take “Droixhe” for instance. It sounds like the OST to a Halloween-themed Sega game. It’s quite overtly lurking in the shadows, in a kooky pantomime way. “Lithium” wobbles and trembles through dank pipes and mechanical spurts and ghostly metal-creak theramin from Lena Willikens of Titanboa.

Willikens isn’t the only person who has a guest spot on the LP: Jaki Liebezeit (Can) is on two songs, Dominik von Senger (The Phantom Band and Dunkelziffer) is on three and Dermot O’Mahony is crops up on violin. It’s quite the collaborative project. It has to bolster Vermont’s quality to have the extra hands on deck, and you can probably thank these musicians for helping diversify the sound in the “loose jam sessions”. Not that Worgull and Plessow would inevitably get stuck in a rut, but over the course of 14 tracks, the gumption might waver. The added textures and timbres these musicians provide helps form a pleasant respite from the synth-led Krautscapes.

Worgull, perhaps more famous for his lucid techno output, and Plessow, a purveyor of sample-tortured deep house, forgo their traditional genres in favour of new frontiers here. It’s a bold lunge in the musical partnership world – after all, Moderat’s unholy union isn’t a gigantic step away from their solo endeavours – to (mostly) abandon tried and tested formulae in favour of breaking new ground. It’s a risk, especially given its improvisational nature, but far from sloppily plate-spinning a variety of elements, they, along with their cadre of guests, have ensured that Vermont is cohesive, structured and fresh.

As mentioned earlier, it’s not the easiest of listens. Not being an ‘easy listen’ isn’t symbolic of a lesser sense of worth however – it’d be hard to argue that accessibility is intrinsically linked to quality (there’s not many who’d say Rihanna was the best musician ever, for example). It does take time to penetrate the outer shell. Vermont haven’t made it simple to get to adore this record, and you’ll often find it scurrying into avante-garde territories or getting locked in an ouroboros-like spiral of noise. In spite of all this, if you persevere, it’s an LP that will reveal it’s creamy goodness in due time. You’ve got to wine’n’dine it, not just expect to jump into bed.