When they began, with the EP Only In America (Zero Hour, 1996), they were a power-trio (Michael Acher on bass and Mecki Messerschmidt on drums) and were aping grunge and speedmetal. Then they added keyboards and samples and 12 (Zero Hour, 1997) presented a completely new project: a cross between Can's progressive-rock, Sonic Youth's noise-rock, Slint's post-rock (String), Pixies melodies (Puzzle) and Pain Teens' tape-loop experiments (My Phrasebook). The most intriguing songs emerge from the fusion and collision of those elements: Noah and Torture Day are whispered slo-core lithanies. M blends all elements and for a minute or so achieves the perverted grandeur of the Stooges' escoriating noise. The poppy My Faults and the danceable Loup stretch the format.

The progress continued with the addition to the line-up of saxophone, clarinet, cello, theremin and vibraphone. Shrink (Zero Hour, 1998) collects four new songs (Moron, N.L, Shrink, and 0-4) and six tracks previously released on singles. Another Planet has an epic, garage-y riff and is sung in the cold, dejected tone of post-rock (at times resembling Nico). Day 7 is a psychedelic lullaby (the best thing is the intricate polyrhythm at the beginning). The dissonant arrangement on the equally subdued Electric Bear belongs to the futuristic/primitive category. Horns embellish Your Signs, whose melody is even more compromised with easy-listening. The music and the singing are often contrasted rather than complemented. Shrink is virtually two pieces in one: yet another soft/sad ballad plus a minimalistic chamber sonata. Moron and N.L. are instrumental tracks, heavy on the horns, that bridge prog-rock dynamics and post-rock's mechanic, indifferent , alienated posture. Martin Gretschmann (Console) on sampler is particularly important in reshaping the sound of the ensemble.

Acher is also active in Lali Puna.

Martin Gretschmann began a solo career with Pan Or Ama (Payola, 1997), released under the moniker Console, and followed by Rocket In The Pocket (Payola, 1999 - Matador, 2000). These are albums in which songs are tributes to studio technique, concentrates of electronic and computer trickery, complex hodgepodges of synthesizer melodies, spastic beats, samples, dissonances, reverbs, computerized voices, stealing ideas from Autechre, Aphex Twin, Goldie and many more. Console's manifestos are My Dog Eats Beats and 14 Zero Zero, sophisticated camouflages of music that sound entertaining while being mere accumulation of musical debris. The oblique post-rock dadaism of Dolphin Dos and Bee-Queen mix well with the maimed funk and jazz sounds of Pigeon Party and with the ambient hell of Delay Dackel and the grotesque post-industrial dance of Walk Like A Worm .

Neon Golden (City Slang, 2001) further increased Notwist's high standards of quality with a set of carefully orchestrated and absurdist, glitch-infected ballads (One Step Inside Doesn't Mean You'll Understand, Pick Up the Phone), that pioneered the digital folk-rock of the new decade. Even more arcane and daring are the blues shuffle Neon Golden, that decays into a tribal jam with jazzy woodwinds, and the delicate elegy of Off the Rails, constructed out of orchestral subtleties and metronomic patterns. The increased sophistication of the rhythms leads to the syncopated, cubistic This Room, that loops and digital effects make even more unstable. Another fractured rhythmic experiment, Solitaire, finds an unlikely balance between chamber music and digital cacophony.
Songs are organic entities, they grow and blossom as they develop. In a sense, one never ends listening to them. Elements are often unfocused for the sake of not collapsing in a static, well-defined sound.
Weird rhythms, lush textures, fluid jamming, jarring counterpoint, pensive electronics, disjointed melodies destroy whatever sense of orientation the listener has acquired from western music. That is not to say that the music lacked an emotional center. This time their pop ambitions surfaced with the relatively catchy melody of Pilot, propelled by a quasi-motorik beat a` la Neu and punctuated by an old-fashioned mellotron, with the gentle elegy Trashing Days, that flirts with downtempo (soothing woodwinds, backbeat and mandolin), with the romantic closer Consequence, and with the emo power-ballad One With The Freaks. The vocals (that used to be rather monotonous) have improved dramatically, although they are still a far cry from being a model of eloquence.

Console's Reset the Preset (EMI, 2003) is a double album which echoes Bjork (first half) and Aphex Twin (second half), but ends up being as mediocre as Bjork's orchestral pop and as Aphex Twin's ambient electronica. Notable among the songs is Dirt on the Wire. Among the instrumentals, Diagonal, which sounds like Slint scoring the soundtrack to a sci-fi movie, and Marina's half-hearted trip-hop.

Different Cars And Trains (Domino, 2004) is a (terrible) mini-album of remixes, despite the instrumental Red Room.

MS John Soda, the side-project of Micha Acher (Marcus' brother) with vocalist and keyboardist Stefanie Bohm, became a protagonist of the glitch-pop season via No P Or D (Morr, 2002), the EP While Talking (2003), with No One, and Notes and the Like (Morr, 2006), that added two more members to the founding duo.

All'inizio, l'EP era Only In America (Zero Hour, 1996), erano un power-trio (Michael Acher al basso e Mecki Messerschmidt alla batteria) e si divertivano a scimmiottare il grunge e lo speedmetal. Quidni aggiunsero le tastiere e i samples e 12 (Zero Hour, 1997) inaugurò un progetto completamente nuovo: un incrocio tra il rock progressivo dei Can, l'harcore dei Big Black, il noise-rock dei Sonic Youth, il post-rock degli  Slint, le melodie à la Pixies e gli esperimenti con i tape-loop à la Pain Teens (Torture Day, Noah, Puzzle). L'album include un CD di remix.

Il progresso continua con l'estensione della line-up, aggiornata fino a contenere un sassofono, un clarinetto, un violoncello, un theremin e un vibrafono, e con l'effetto di spostarsi verso il progressive-rock (Day 7, Another Planet), il  jazz-rock (Moron, Your Signs), il  post-rock (Electric Bear, N.L.), verso vignette malinconiche di Eniana memoria (No Encores), e addirittura un'obliqua versione del synth-pop (Chemicals).

Shrink (Zero Hour, 1998) colleziona quattro nuove canzoni (Moron, N.L, Shrink, and 0-4) e sei altre tracce prima uscite solo su singolo. Another Planet ha un riff epico e garagista, ed è cantata nel freddo, scorante tono del post-rock (a volte ricorda Nico). Day 7 è una ninnananna psichedelica (la cosa migliore è il poliritmo intricato all'inizio). L'arrangiamento dissonante sull'egualmente ammansita Electric Bear appartiene alla categoria futuristica/primitiva. I fiati adornano Your Signs, la cui melodia è ancor più compromessa con l'easy-listening. La musica ed il cantato sono spesso in contrasto, piuttosto che complementari. Shrink è virtualmente un'imbastitura di due pezzi distinti: ancora una ballata soffice/triste con l'aggiunta di una sonata minimalista. Moron e N.L. sono tracce strumentali, fiati pesi, che unisce le dinamiche del prog-rock ai meccanismi indifferenti e alienati del post-rock. Martin Gretschmann (Console) ai sampler è particolarmente prezioso nel disvelare il sound dell'ensemble.

Acher è attivo anche come  Lali Puna. 

Martin Gretschmann comincia una carriera solista con Pan Or Ama (Payola, 1997), realizzato sotto lo pseudonimo Console, e la continua con Rocket In The Pocket (Payola, 1999 - Matador, 2000). Si tratta di due album dove le canzoni sono tributi a tecniche di studio, concentrati di elettroncia e trucchetti digitali, complessi guazzabugli di melodie al sintetizzatore, battiti spastici, samples, dissonanze, riverberi, voci computerizzate, idee rubate da Autechre, Aphex Twin, Goldie e chissà quanti altri. Il manifesto di Console risiede in My Dog Eats Beats e 14 Zero Zero, sofisticati  camouflages di musica che nascondono dietro la facciata dell'intrattenimento una mera accumulazione di detriti musicali. L'obliquo post-rock dadaista di Dolphin Dos e Bee-Queen mixa sapientemente il funk storpiato con i suoni jazz di Pigeon Party e con l'inferno ambient Delay Dackel e la grottesca dance post-industriale di Walk Like A Worm .

Notwist torna agli alti livelli che gli competono con  Neon Golden (City Slang, 2001), e lo fa con una manciata di ballate assurde e ben orchestrate (One Step Inside Doesn't Mean You'll Understand, Pick Up the Phone, il complesso  "concerto di strumenti di legno mutante in una jam etnica" Neon Golden), anche realtivamente orecchiabili/balzellante (Pilot, che sembra uscita dai New Order, e la ballata emo power One With The Freaks). Le canzoni sono entità organiche, crescono e fioriscono nel momento in cui si sviluppano. In un certo senso, non si smette mai di sentirle risuonare. Gli elementi sono sempre sfocati, per il gusto di non collassare in un suono statico e dai contorni definiti (il drum'n'bass cubista di This Room, la sottigliezza orchestrale di Solitaire e Off the Rails). Ritmiche sconcertanti, textures abbondanti, jamming fluide, contrappunti sgradevoli, elettronica filosofica, melodie disgiunte distruggono qualsiasi senso dell'orientamento che la musica occidentale può aver generato negli ascoltatori. Ciò non significa che la musica qui manca di un centro emozionale. Può anche essere toccante (l'elegia gentile Trashing Days e la chiosa romantica Consequence).