ANBB: ALVA NOTO & BLIXA BARGELD - Mimikry 2LP/CD raster-noton ANTONY | FENNESZ - Returnal 7" Editions Mego BARBARA MORGENSTERN - Fan No. 2 2CD Monika CHRIS ABRAHAMS - Play Scar CD room40 CINDYTALK - Up here in the Clouds CD Editions Mego DJ NATE - Da Trak Genious 3LP/CD Planet Mu DJ ROC - The Crack Capone 2LP/CD Planet Mu GX JUPITTER-LARSEN - Expanded Slam 10" hrönir HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR - Mount A CD Touch MARK McGUIRE - Living with Yourself LP/CD Editions Mego MAX RICHTER - Infra LP/CD 130701 MUTTER - Trinken Singen Schiessen LP/CD Die Eigene Gesellschaft OKAMOTONORIAKI - Telescope CD Mü Nest OVAL - O 2LP/2CD Thrill Jockey PHILIP JECK - An Ark for the Listener CD Touch RAIONBASHI / KRUBE. - Ansätze zum Taumel LP hrönir SAM PREKOP - Old Punch Card LP/CD Thrill Jockey SENKING - Pong 2CD raster-noton SOLAR BEARS - She was Coloured in 2LP/CD Planet Mu TEHO TEARDO - Soundtrack Work 2004-2008 CD Expanding TOMAS PHILLIPS - Quartet for Instruments CD Humming Conch ZEITKRATZER - WHITEHOUSE [electronics] CD Zeitkratzer >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ANBB: ALVA NOTO & BLIXA BARGELD - Mimikry 2LP/CD raster-noton R-N 121 Release date: October 4 www.raster-noton.net/anbb being friends and admirers of each other's work for a long time, electronic music composer/visual artist alva noto (carsten nicolai) and composer/voice-artist blixa bargeld (also known as singer of einstürzende neubauten and guitarist of nick cave and the bad seeds) decided to join forces to initiate a collaborative project in 2007. together they developed a musical concept based on the combination of improvisation and abstraction. the impulsive live performance of blixa bargeld and the elaborated beat structures and sound landscapes of alva noto merge to a surprising and unexpected result. working on their own experimental material that gains its strength from the spontaneity of the live-performance of bargeld's voice as well as rethinking traditional songs in their own special manner, they deliver an outstanding and inspiring musical blend for their audience. "crystalline noise formations. phrases, words, syllables of pure sound isolated until normal sense disappears, leaving new, unexpected abstractions to emerge. [...] the most suggestive and nuanced version of 'i wish i was a mole in the ground' since bob dylan." - sam davies (the wire 12/09, uk) the collaboration first staged in september 2007 when they united for a special appearance in san francisco to perform at recombinant media labs studios. since then they have recorded several tracks, five of which have been released on the preliminary EP "ret marut handshake" on raster-noton (r-n 120) in june 2010. the full length album (on CD and 2LP) called mimikry is released on raster- noton (r-n 121) in october 2010. for its ten tracks the album will readopt two original tracks and two alternative versions from the EP while additionally introducing six completely new songs. as a very special feature "katze" and "mimikry" will feature vocals/words by the model veruschka (known from the movie blow up by m. antonioni). the album will be released with a special 16-page booklet that presents original text/drawings of blixa bargeld that developed during the recordings. the album release will be accompanied by a live tour at various festivals and concert halls around europe in august/september 2010. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ANTONY | FENNESZ - Returnal 7" Editions Mego eMEGO 104X www.editionsmego.com www.fennesz.com www.pointnever.com www.antonyandthejohnsons.com "Returnal" Voice by Antony Piano by Daniel Lopatin Recorded at Lofish, New York, May 2010 Engineered and Mixed by Alex Nizich "Returnal" Remixed by Christian Fennesz, June 2010 Hot on the heels of the acclaimed Oneohtrix Point Never Returnal album come these fabulous versions of the title track. Antony swings the mood and strips the track of its delayed harmonised vocals and creates poignant ballad with Dan OPN on piano. Fennesz on the other hand sprinkles some his world famous majestic stardust over the proceedings. All packaged in dazzling artwork by Stephen O'Malley. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top BARBARA MORGENSTERN - Fan No. 2 + Bonus CD Plastikreport / Enter The Partyzone 2CD Monika Enterprise Monika70 Release date: September 17 www.monika-enterprise.de www.barbaramorgenstern.de Fan No. 2 is a roundup of Barbara Morgenstern's extensive recorded output to date including previously unreleased versions and never before heard mixes as well as brand new exclusive tracks. As a special treat for fans of the Berlin singer, musician and producer, the double CD set includes a bonus CD of her two early EPs "Plastikreport" and "Enter The Partyzone", which get their first official release here. The collection is a guided tour through Morgenstern's catalogue starting from her first release on monika, Vermona ET 6-1, named after the cult organ that BM put to such great use on all of her early work. The version of "Das Wort" contained on Fan No. 2 is a rarity that gets its first proper release here. Then there's Thomas Fehlmann's Mix Expansion version of "Der Augenblick"; another previously unreleased track originally taken from the Fjorden album. There are two tracks from 2003s seminal Nichts Muss album: "Aus heiterem Himmel" and the title track, "Nichts Muss". These are produced by scape label founder Stefan Betke aka Pole, who has also remastered all the tracks on this double CD set. 2006 saw Morgenstern shift slighty away from electronics towards a more organic sound with the use of traditional instrumentation. The piano version of "The Operator" is dedicated to Scottish pianist and composer Bill Wells (with whom Barbara has released on Leaf and Karaoke Kalk) and was so far only available on the single of this song. "Camouflage" from her last full length album, BM, represents another major milestone in the career of Barbara Morgenstern. She always wanted to work with Robert Wyatt and the dream came true with this delightfully moving song. The second number from BM to be included on Fan No. 2 is the anthemic "Come to Berlin" - a harsh criticism of Berlin's city planning policy disguised in the form of a pop song promoting tourism in the German capital. Fan No. 2 draws to a close with 3 more previously unreleased tracks. A version of Mountainplace originally appeared on Chicks On Speed's acclaimed Girl Monster compilation. Whereas "Wegbereiter" and "Blackbird" are both brand new exlusive tracks. The first sees BM typically walking a fine line between kitsch and heart-wrenching while the later, a cover of The Beatles song, is unashamed uplifting pop as only Morgenstern can do and with it's funky electronic production is surprisingly far removed removed from the original. Fan No. 2 charts the course of Barbara Morgenstern's catalogue and the development of her style. Not quite a "best of" in the conventional sense of the term, but still packed with "hits hits hits". In this respect it's ideal for long-term fans, who will especially appreciate the bonus CD containing the rarities "Enter The Partyzone" (originally a cassette release in 1997 on Joe Tabu's living room label, Hausfrau im Schacht) & "Plastikreport" (which was previously only available as a very ltd. release on Leipzig label Club der guten Hoffnung), as well as for any new listeners wishing to find out whats so special about Barbara Morgenstern's music. 09.09. NL - Deventer, Slowlands Festival 30.09. DE - Düsseldorf, Aproximation Festival 01.10. DE - Kassel, Schlachthof 02.10. DE - Offenbach, Hafen 2 07.10. DE - Karlsruhe, Jubez 08.10. LUX - Luxemburg. Dqliq 22.10. DE - Saarbrücken, Sparte 4 23.10. DE - Aachen. Musikbunker 29.10. DE - Hamburg, Hafenklang >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top CHRIS ABRAHAMS - Play Scar CD room40 RM437 www.room40.org www.thenecks.com/bio#chris Chris Abrahams' Play Scar inhabits a sound world that's entirely uncharted. It's a zone of in-betweens - juxtapositions and parallel lines - a realm in which nothing is certain and at any moment dynamic shifts might occur. In this unusual electro-acoustic landscape, Abrahams has crafted by far his most complex and epically beautiful record to date. It's a series of pieces that in many ways demonstrates the full scope of Abrahams' work as a musician and composer. Play Scar, like Thrown before it is both exotic and unfamiliar. Pieces like "Twig Blown" hint at Abrahams' interest in musique concréte, "Leiden" pulses with a distinctly electronic flare, whilst "There He Reclined" shimmers in a hazy procession of organ, guitar and electronics. At its core, Play Scar is an album of unrepentant diversity, united through Abrahams astounding sense of composition and focus. In another artist's hands these elements might be rendered too divergent and too esoteric, but sculpted by Chris Abrahams, each piece is a continent of sound, in an auditory world of his making. Play Scar is unique, compelling and most of all visionary. "Abrahams may be challenging expectations, but in Play Scar he has produced a record which will certainly exceed them." Mapsadaisical "A magnificent piece of experimental music which is so vast and complex in scope that it never appears twice in the same light." 5/5 The Milk Factory >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top CINDYTALK - Up here in the Clouds CD Editions Mego eMEGO 106 www.editionsmego.com www.cindytalk.com Recordings by Gordon Sharp 2003 - 2010 at the Mid-Levels (hk) but mainly at Roi Vert, Okamoto Japan.   Mastered at Piethopraxis, June 2010 Artwork by David Coppenhall Up here in the Clouds is the second installment in the new Cindytalk sound which started llast years The Crackle of my Soul. Whereas Crackle was more of a blistering burner, Clouds has a fresher cooler sound to iit, with longer tracks that slowly evolve in great patches of aural beauty.   The sound that Gordon Sharp and co create now is a unique blend of cracked electronics, near awkward ambient textures that always seem to flow smoothly like the most natural of sounds around, building up a great set of modern electronic music which closes with the child like melody of the title track. Superbly packaged with new David Coppenhall artwork in a 4-panel digipack. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top DJ NATE - Da Track Genious 3LP/CD Planet Mu Records ZIQ280 Release date: September 6 www.planet.mu/artists/DJNate Da Trak Genious is Planet Mu's compilation of the Footwork tracks of DJ Nate, born NATHAN CLARK, a 20-year old artist who grew up in the westside of Chicago. He started making Footwork tracks 5 years ago, more recently turning his hand to Hip hop and R'n'B, and the album is an archive compilation of his productions. This is Nate's first ever worldwide album release. It's essentially a selection of tracks that have come out on small edition cdrs and tracks posted on youtube and imeem. This is how Planet Mu first heard his music, which has gathered a small but enthusiastic band of followers and fans who have been itching to hear more from Nate and know more about the genre. Footwork tracks are instrumental tracks made for Footwurking, or Jukin'; a dance style that's local to Chicago that kids use to let off steam in group competitions with each other. It's a distant relative of the competitive hip hop style of up-rocking but with frantic foot moves that have their roots in Jazz dancing. The Footwork sound has its roots in Chicago House especially the accelerated 'Ghetto' house, and the influence and speed of the pioneering Ghetto house label 'Dance Mania' is clear: the tough sentiments and hip hop influence is all there, but the fast linear hypnotic 4x4 sound of those records has been re-calibrated and given an ultra-syncopated treatment to test dancers, the samples and repeated lines are pitch adjusted up and down giving the music a strange hypnotic feel. These tracks have a unique drama and a pressure that is unique to Footwork but reminiscent of the edited drum syncopation of jungle and also hip hop cutting in DJ battles. DJ Nate uses the basic palette of samples from pop and hip hop, pitched, layered and triggered into unusual edits, often edging into distortion, usually with a simple repeated phrase like "hatas our motivation" used to pump up the dancers. This hypnotizing effect, combined with sparse 808 drum patterns, often with busy fills, relentless triplets and off-kilter accents, is used to create very different variations within his sound. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top DJ ROC - The Crack Capone 2LP/CD Planet Mu Records ZIQ291 Release date: October 18 www.planet.mu www.myspace.com/caponemixtape DJ Roc, known to his mother as Clarence Johnson, was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago better known as the low end. The crack in Crack Capone refers to his style of production. Like an underground chemist, DJ Roc produces variant strains of Chicago Juke music, the "crack" referring to the synapse snapping, potentially ankle cracking manipulation of rhythms and the sampling, hijacking and ultra-rhythmic micro-editing of black American pop's dominant forms into a style that's been developed and tested on the streets of Chicago. One of the most popular and respected DJ's on the Chicago Juke scene, DJ Roc grew up listening to house music and was inspired to make people dance, especially in the up and coming footwork scene. In 2001 he started to produce Juke via an introduction to the production programme fruityloops by his friend DJ Darkchild. Around 2004 he became more confident with his track making and became very popular in his local area by throwing parties, playing his own tracks and making personal tracks for people to footwork to. From this he co-formed a group of DJs and party promoters called "Bosses of the Circle" and built up his fanbase, garnering interest from the likes of Chicago Juke legend DJ Slugo who helped him make his first mix cds. This first CD grew into 3 volumes of the 'Juke City' mix albums and got support from the various footwork cliques in the city and attention for his production nationally and internationally. Over the course of the album's 20 tracks, DJ Roc shows off his brilliant high-speed sparse manipulations of rhythm, space and sound; as in the dancehall influenced tracks such as opener 'One Blood' or 'Kill Da Bitch' to tracks which mix a heavy techno influence like 'Make Crack Like Dis' or mix it with Hip hop samples like 'King Of The Circle'. Then there are tracks that mix smooth soul with double-speed like 'I Can't Control The Feeling', to tracks which have more of a classic Juke feel like 'Get Buck Jones' and 'DJ Roc Symphony'. The album is full of brilliant production and original ideas. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top GX JUPITTER-LARSEN - Expanded Slam 10" hrönir hr4441 www.hronir.de www.jupitter-larsen.com "Expanded Slam" and "Extended Slam", two new compositions by one of America's most consistently explorative and radical artists. Presented in a blazing gatefold package designed by Jupitter-Larsen, including an essay on the permawave, the polywave and the hoopla. Utterly delightful. GX Jupitter-Larsen is a media artist, based in Hollywood, California, who has been active in a number of underground art scenes since the late 1970s. He has been involved in punk rock, mail art, cassette culture, the noise music scene, and zine culture. During the 1990s he was the sound designer for the performances of Mark Pauline's Survival Research Laboratories. His best known work is as the founder of the noise act The Haters, who have performed all over the world, and appear on over 300 CD & record releases. Mastered and cut at D+M Edition of 500, vinyl only >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR - Mount A CD Touch Tone 41 www.touchmusic.org.uk www.hildurness.com Photography & Design: Jon Wozencroft Mastered by Denis Blackham This album was originally released by 12 Tónar in 2006 under the moniker Lost in Hildurness. The first solo recording from Hildur Gudnadottir (who is a member of the Nix Noltes band and has performed regularly with múm and Pan Sonic). In her dreamy soundworld she plays the cello, gamba, zither, khuur and the gamelan so this cd sounds like nothing else. This is exciting, tranquil, and melancholic stuff and at times it makes you think of a lost place and times gone by - and the music has the power to take you there. Recording sessions took place both in New York and in a house in Hólar, Iceland, specifically chosen for its good cello acoustics. It is strictly a solo album, Hildur has attempted to "involve other people as little as I could." Like the cover art, it is personal and intimate. It has been called "the perfect soundtrack to get lost in a forrest at night", but this version, mastered by Denis Blackham, sounds fresher and better than ever. Her latest solo album, the widely reviewed and highly acclaimed Without Sinking (Touch # TO:70, 2009) is still available from Touch. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MARK McGUIRE - Living with Yourself LP/CD Editions Mego eMEGO 107 Release date: October 1 www.editionsmego.com www.mcguiremusic.blogspot.com Electric and Acoustic Guitar Recorded February - September 2009 Cleveland and Westlake, Ohio by Mark McGuire. Percussion on "Brothers" Performed and Recorded November 2008 at Zombie Proof Studios, Cleveland, Ohio by Nate Scheible. Tape Samples Recorded 1991 - 1998 by Mark McGuire Sr., Jr. Edited and Arranged by Mark McGuire 2009. Mastered by James Plotkin, July 2010 Cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, July 22nd 2010 Outside Photos: Misc. Family Photos 1964 - 1996 Live Photo by Steve Bauras, Paris, France 2009 1229 Ramona by Cuyahoga County Real Estate Office, Lakewood, Ohio 1956 Layout by Mike Pollard and Mark McGuire. Mark McGuire operates chiefy as guitarist in the legendary EMERALDS. However he also has racked up an impressive set of solo releases over the last few years (albeit mainly in small to micro print runs). Living with Yourself is his new album and we at Editions Mego hope to meet any demand which may arise from this fine selection of modern crafted guitar tunes. Focusing on his family, early friendships and the problems that inevitably develop through years of knowing someone, it takes McGuire's sound even further out, and contains some his most accomplished songs to date. The opening track is a fine example of McGuire's magic technique of taking a lone acoustic guitar then transforming the track into bliss-out electro wash looping off into the distance. And tracks like "Clouds Rolling In" and "Brain Storm" take off where such McGuire classics as "The Marfa Lights" (which incidentally is planned for a future reissue) left off. While connoisseurs of his sound will find all they desire in here, many superb surprises await around every corner. These are songs that cruise, bubble and rise to the top. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MAX RICHTER - Infra LP/CD/DL 130701 Records LP13-11 Release date: September 17 (DE) www.fat-cat.co.uk www.maxrichter.com Originally conceived as a Royal Ballet-commissioned collaboration between composer Max Richter, choreographer Wayne McGregor and artist Julian Opie, Max Richter's gorgeous score to Infra is deservedly given life of its own in this album-length release from FatCat's instrumental/orchestral imprint 130701 Records. The initial setting for Infra was as a ballet - written in autumn 2008 and premiered in November of the same year at The Royal Opera House in London - although here Richter's score is given the full scope of a standalone new album. Expanded and extended from the original piece, Infra comprises music written for piano, electronics and string quintet, including the full performance score as well as material that has subsequently developed from the construction of the album - more a continued reference to the ballet than as a "studio album" in the strictest sense. The composition resonates with Max's characteristic musical voice - majestic, involved textures; fluent and sweeping melodies; an enigmatic and inherently intellectual understanding of harmonic complexities that compels and mesmerizes. Richter's work on the ballet came initially from McGregor's invitation, a request for 25 minutes of music for his piece, inspired by T.S. Elliot's "The Wasteland" and named after the Latin term for "below". This eventually became more collaborative as the project developed - Wayne would ask for Max to extend or alter certain passages of music in accordance with his own amendments to his choreography and concept, whilst logging the whole process for a BBC documentary (broadcast, along with the ballet in full, on BBC2 in November 2008). The dance performance was backed with digital images created by Julian Opie - observational scenes of street life, haunting and curiously balletic despite being of the everyday - and Max's score is an appropriately close reference to the traveling theme: "I started thinking about making a piece on the theme of journeys. Like a road movie. Or a traveler's notebook. Or like the second unit in a film - when the scene has been played, and the image cuts away to the landscape going by. This started me thinking about Schubert's devastating and haunting "Winterreise" (Winter Journey), so I used some melodic material from Schubert as a found object in parts of my new piece." The recording of Infra took place in one day at London's AIR Studios - recorded onto 2" tape, engineered by Nick Wollage and overseen by Max - before a return to the mixing studio (Max's StudioKino and Trixx in Berlin) for Max's typically intricate and lengthy process of crafting completed pieces from the recordings. Max Richter studied composition and piano at the Royal Academy of Music before moving to Florence to study with Luciano Berio, and subsequently co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus - his principal musical output for ten years - on his return to the UK. As well as commissioning and performing works by several musical figureheads, including Brian Eno and Julia Wolf, Richter was largely responsible for the ensemble's use of live electronics, which became one of the fundamentally formative elements of his own work. An active collaborator in other media, Max received The European Film Award last year for his work on Waltz with Bashir, Ari Forman's Oscar-nominated animated documentary. He has released four full-length albums with FatCat's 130701 imprint - 2008's 24 Postcards in Full Colour, Songs from before (2006), The Blue Notebooks (2004) and last year's Memoryhouse (a reissue of his 2002 debut, originally released through the BBC's short-lived Late Junction label). Infra is his first soundtrack piece to appear through FatCat. Forthcoming scores include Benedek Fliegauf's near-future Dystopia Womb, as well as From the Art of Mirrors, a film/music performance with hitherto unseen Super-8mm films by Derek Jarman. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top MUTTER - Trinken Singen Schiessen LP/CD/DL Die Eigene Gesellschaft 005 www.muttermusik.de Max Müller (Gesang) Florian Körner von Gustorf (Schlagzeug) HF Coltello (Gitarre) Michael Fröhlich (Bass) Tom Scheutzlich (Keyboards) TRINKEN SINGEN SCHIESSEN Endlich gibt es wieder eine neue Platte von MUTTER. Man musste lange darben, denn die letzte reguläre Veröffentlichung (die LP "CD des Monats") ist sechs Jahre her, viel zu lang für all jene, für die MUTTER so etwas Essentielles wie Essen ist, in der Zwischenzeit ist ein Kind geboren und wurde eingeschult. Und nun TRINKEN SINGEN SCHIESSEN, ein programmatischer Titel, der an das grausame Massaker von Rechnitz erinnert (der Nacht vom 24. auf den 25. März 1945 wurden 180 ungarische Juden von betrunkenen Teilnehmern eines von Margit von Batthyány, Tochter Heinrich Thyssens, abgehaltenen Schlossfestes im burgenländischen Rechnitz erschossen). Zur Finanzierung der neuen Platte gab die Band 99 aufwändig von Max Müller gestaltete Kaltnadelradierungen als Schuldverschreibungen aus. Die innerhalb einer Woche ausverkauften Aktien dienten dazu, das Mastering und das Pressen der neuen CD zu ermöglichen. Die Platte osziliert inhaltlich wie schon ihre Vorgängerinnen zwischen dem Grauen des Alltags, des Stillstands, Stupor, dem Kommunikationsunvermögen zwischen den Generationen ("Die Alten hassen die Jungen, bis die Jungen Alte sind"), der Dummheit und dem immer wieder zerbrechenden Liebesglück und der unstillbaren Sehnsucht danach, der Sprachlosigkeit angesichts der Meinungsführer ("...klingt jede hohle Phrase, mit der du sagen willst, was die hohle Phrase der anderen ist") und Zwangsbeglücker ("Sie sind Wohltäter, und wir die Opfer"), ein Marsch im Stile Hanns Eislers. Dazu singt Max Müller dringlicher denn je, eine gepeinigte Seele, die Gesänge der Jünglinge im Feuerofen, trotzdem gibt es da und dort Manfred-Krug-Momente, wenn er wie Krug kleine Idyllen beschreibt, die so fragil sind, dass sie nur wie von Spucke zusammengehalten scheinen. Und immer wieder die repetitive, schiere Fassungslosigkeit: "Idioten zu erklären, dass sie welche sind, kann man nicht, und tut es doch, weil sie welche sind". Sisiphos lässt grüßen. Die Musik ist facettenreicher geworden als auf den früheren Platten, raffinierter, eine adäquate Umsetzung der Müllerschen Geworfenheit, dieses ungefragte In-die-Welt-gekommen-seins, der Felsbrocken von früher hat eine Glasur bekommen, und wieder steht eine neue MUTTER Platte wie ein Monolith da, und wieder werden die Jungs von Tocotronic und Blumfeld neidlos konstatieren müssen: "Wir waren umgehauen". Tex Rubinowitz, Wien, Juni 2010 ZUR SCHULDVERSCHREIBUNG "Mit Trinken singen schiessen, dem neuen Mutter-Album, liefern wir uns aus. Wir begeben uns in die Hände unserer FreundInnen, UnterstützerInnen und Fans. Sie werden das neuste Mutteralbum ermöglichen und - wie gewohnt - keinerlei Einfluss auf die Musik von Mutter haben. Das Ganze wird ausschließlich über das System einer privaten Schuldverschreibung finanziert. Und das funktioniert so..." So begann die Finanzierung der Platte. Die 99 Schuldverschreibungen sind Kaltnadelradierungen von Max Müller, auf feinstes Büttenpapier gedruckt: 3 Motive in 3 Farben. Sie haben eine Laufzeit von einem Jahr und können dann wieder gegen ihren Nennwert von 100 Euro zurückgegeben werden. Oder man behält den handsignierten limitierten Tiefdruck. Nach nur wenigen Tagen mussten übrigens diejenigen, die noch zögerten, mit blankem Entsetzen feststellen: Alle Schuldverschriebungen waren weg. MUTTER Seit 22 Jahren ist MUTTER ein Phänomen in der deutschen Musiklandschaft. Sich nie einordnen lassen und sich selbst treu bleiben - Diese Essenz der Botschaft des frühen Punks wird von den fünf Mutter-Musikern verkörpert wie von keiner anderen Band. Ihr Sound ist hart, brachial, schleppend und ungemütlich, im nächsten Moment aber wieder sanft und balladenhaft ergreifend. Live trifft einen MUTTER mit voller Wucht. Sänger und Texter Max Müller agiert dabei mit unnachahmlicher Präsenz. Seine Texte sind einfach, reduziert und direkt, ohne Sarkasmus oder Ironie, mitunter schmerzhaft abgründig. Mutter veröffentlichte bisher neun (heute meist vergriffene) Alben. 2005 lief der Dokumentarfilm "Wir waren niemals hier" von Antonia Ganz über die Band MUTTER im Panorama Programm der Berlinale Filmfestspiele. 2007 ist er als DVD erschienen. 05.08. DE Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin 15.08. DE Dockville, Hamburg 07.10. DE Gebäude9, Köln 09.10. DE 59:1, München 10.12. DE Manufaktur, Schorndorf 11.12. DE Cafe Zentral, Weinheim >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top OKAMOTONORIAKI - Telescope CD Mü Nest MCN007 www.mu-nest.com www.okamotonoriaki.com Imagine. The amber shades of a sunset, blending seamlessly into the bluish horizons. The serene star-filled night sky that follows and covers the bustling city streets beneath it, breathing its pulse, its voices, its ever-moving sounds of life, flashing coats of colours, dimming lights, entwined lovers and quiet solitudes. Imagine. The shuffling leaves as they wave upon the edge of a branch just outside a window. The zephyr that glides across patterned curtain tails, bringing the coloured air of the ever shifting seasons: the red of springs, the green of summers, the amber of autumns and the white of winter. It is with thus imaginations, our imaginations, that Okamoto Noriaki's debut album Telescope welcomes us to his cinematic sonic world, an imagery-filled, delicately sound-driven, pop-infused electronica soundtrack of at once the familiar and the foreign, dreams and realities, memories and present joys. Here is an electro-pop musical-picturesque of intricate, weaving piano melodies, soul-tripping drum and electro sound beats, with warm synths of near ethereal beauty, sampled voices of stilled wonders and airy vocals of etched realizations, written, performed and produced by Noriaki himself and mastered by the venerated Tokyo mastering engineer Naph, whose previous collaborations include renowned artists like World End's Girlfriend and aus. Telescope is like listening and watching gentle, broad, delicate, bold, determined and graceful brushstrokes coming together to form a magical electro beat-tripping, lyrical piano-filled, warm synth-painted sonic film that depicts the very colours of both our firm realities and dream-filled ponderings. A well-established and awarded talent, Tokyo audio-visual artist Okamoto Noriaki brings forth a musical visual-scape in the vein of celebrated electronica mastery and sensitivity that breathes the essence of what music is made for: to move us. Each CD of this 400-copies-only limited edition release comes hand-numbered individually, with the first 100 copies a special CD+DVD release with 3 exclusive videos of 3 album tracks, directed by 3 visionary directors including Noriaki himself. Artist Bio Okamotonoriaki is an established Tokyo-based audio-visual artist. The 1983 Osaka-born Tama Arts University Graphic Design graduate has been well-recognized for his works since his undergraduate days with his graduation video piece earning him the Encouragement Prize of the Japan Media Arts Festival. The freelance audio-visual artist is an awarded talent whose accolades includes the Golden Wings 2008 Digital Creators Award, The 10th TBS DigiCon6 Sunrise Award, DOTMOV FESTIVAL 2008 Shortlist and NHK Digital Stadium's Best Selection. Noriaki is an artist who believes that "the process of producing video or music is the process of outputting little stories that come up in my mind. Each work is like a note to remember the little story that popped up from nowhere." It is with thus that Noriaki presents his exquisite brand of cinematic, imaginative electronica filled with intricate, inter-weaving piano lines, warm, adventurous synths, and lively, mesmerizing drumbeat programming, capturing the very essence of his audio-visual storytelling prowess and ingenuity in his moving music masterpieces. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top OVAL - O 2LP/2CD/DL Thrill Jockey thrill244 Release date: August 2010 www.thrilljockey.com O, Oval's striking new 70-track double-CD (and double-LP) is the follow up to the "Oh" EP by electronic pioneer, Markus Popp. Popp, who lives and works in Berlin, took some time between his last release under the moniker SO and the "Oh" EP because he wanted the new material to be a radical departure from his old concepts and methods on all levels, to essentially be a second "debut" album. For O Popp's creative process shares nothing with his creative process for prior Oval albums. Previously, Popp focused on the creation of the programs that would process sound and effectively create the music. As a musician, Popp's process was more theoretical in nature. Creating the platform and knowing what that platform could and should do to the sound sources. He selected the sound sources and then turned it over to the platform. For O, Popp uses an instrument that is very common, a stock PC outfitted with stock sounds and plugins. He no longer uses or creates a custom platform, but instead utilizes a readily available instrument. What he has done with this instrument highlights Popp's, perhaps for the first time, musicianship. Popp spent years woodshedding with his instrument and worked diligently to push the instrument beyond its normal sonic boundaries. What is striking to note is that while the sound sources, and the process versus musician aspect of the music could not be more different, the resulting music shares qualities with the music that came before. It can be heard in the tempo and in the timbre. While the musician in Oval was formerly secondary to the process, now it is the primary creative element and his evolution as a musician can be clearly followed. Popp is often credited with creating the clicks and cuts genre of electronic music. Now this genre defining artist is putting forth the musician that was hiding behind the technician. The result is a celebration in delicacy and detail: handcrafted polyrhythmic phrases, riffs and structures, bristling with tiny resonances. Popp is celebrating rhythms, scales and harmonies on a small and large scale, instead of reveling in theory and meta-discourse. The performances on this record represent a high level of skill on his instrument, while the resulting music is striking, compelling, and ultimately rewarding. O, named for a new beginning, (ground zero if you will) is just that, fresh and new. (The EP title was a playful word game based around the album title.) The album, made after years of practice, is for Popp about the music. It is not about the impetus to start playing or some theoretical exercise in "programmed vs. played" or "new Oval vs. old Oval". These comparisons, for him, are meaningless. On Disc 1, the ten longer pieces range from delicate, sophisticated pop to brutally torn, electro-acoustic riffing full of angular, colliding guitar sounds. All of the songs are peppered with expressive and open drumming. Interestingly the tracks were not built around a rhythm. The drum playing was an organic part of the song evolutions, being written at various points during each individual song's recordings. Disc 2 features no less than 50 concise, highly detailed pieces that are a conscious nod to the culture of instant gratification. Attentions spans are noticeably changed and the culture of organic discovery is gone from the mainstream and replaced by a hunger for the new. Consumption and criticism at warp speed. Portability dominates the art form to an extent never before seen. These tracks represent Popp's personal challenge to create pieces within a constrained framework that addresses this aspect of music culture. Popp has even referred to these pieces as ringtones. These one-minute tracks have a melodic finesse and associative power that are unexpected under such constraints and are ripe for future sampling projects. O is Markus Popp's long-overdue and deeply personal love letter to music. It's for the listener a new chapter in a fascinating, ongoing critical dialog with music by one of the true innovators of contemporary audio. The CD and LP covers will come in four different editions. Popp will be playing select performances in support of O in Europe, Japan, and North America. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top PHILIP JECK - An Ark for the Listener CD Touch # TO:81 www.touchmusic.org.uk www.philipjeck.com Artwork & photography by Jon Wozencroft Mastered by Denis Blackham Philip Jeck works with old records and record players salvaged from junk shops turning them to his own purposes. He really does play them as musical instruments, creating an intensely personal language that evolves with each added part of a record. Philip Jeck makes geniunely moving and transfixing music, where we hear the art not the gimmick. Philip Jeck writes: "A version of An Ark for the Listener was first performed at Kings Place London on 24/02/2010. It is a meditation on verse 33 of "The Wreck of the Deutchsland", Gerard Manley Hopkins poem about the drowning on December 7th 1875 of five Franciscan nuns exiled from Germany. This CD version was recorded at home in Liverpool and used extracts from live performances over the last 12 months. The "coda:" tracks are remixes of 2 pieces from "Suite: Live in Liverpool". "chime, chime(re-rung)" was originally made for Musicworks magazine (#104, Summer 09) and "all that's allowed (remix)" is previously unreleased. All tracks were made using Fidelity record-players, Casio SK1 keyboards, Sony mini-disc recorders, Behringer mixers, Ibanez bass guitar, Boss delay pedal and Zoom bass effects pedal." An Ark... is Jeck's 6th solo album for touch since Loopholes in 1995. The Wire reckoned it was Stoke (Touch, 2002) which 'made him great, but his body of work and his achingly brilliant live sets are rapidly defining him as one of our best artists, and his recent award from The Paul Hamlyn Foundation confirms him as such. Philip Jeck studied visual art at Dartington College of Arts. He started working with record players and electronics in the early '80's and has made soundtracks and toured with many dance and theatre companies as we as well as his solo concert work. His best kown work Vinyl Requiem (with Lol Sargent): a performance for 180 '50's/'60's record players won Time Out Performance Award for 1993. He has also over the last few years returned to visual art making installations using from 6 to 80 record players including Off The Record for Sonic Boom at The Hayward Gallery, London [2000). In 2010 he won one of The Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Composition. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top RAIONBASHI / KRUBE. - Ansätze zum Taumel LP hrönir hr0392 www.hronir.de www.myspace.com/krube www.tochnit-aleph.com/raionbashi From the first split second on Krube. grabs your attention with his hyper tight musique concrète that combines sounds from everyday objects, body openings and non-definable machinery. An old accordion may surface but it doesn't prevent him from continuing straightforward cut-ups, thus exploring scary maybe even unknown territory. If he's to perform at your local venue, leave mama at home and witness. Raionbashi's bunker soundscape seems to be breathing with anxiety. In celebration of his earlier release In Teufels Küche critic Dan Warburton stated that all sounds are "absolutely exquisitely worked and placed with extraordinary attention to detail [...] that makes Löwenbrück, like Milton, a true Poet." His new composition "Musik und Skepsis" even goes further: slow-motion horror musique concrète that'd drive Artaud, Nietzsche and Cioran to fall on their knees in a state of euphoria. No doubt. Raionbashi, established in 1999, is Daniel Löwenbrück, curator of many shows and festivals in Berlin; he runs the magnificent shop/mailorder rumpsti pumsti and the label Tochnit Aleph. Krube. is a Berliner too. During his job as a concert organizer for innumerable punk and hardcore bands in Saarbrücken he started his solo project in 1999 and eventually moved to the capital four years later. Ansätze zum Taumel is Krube.'s first official release to date. Raionbashi has gained quite a reputation for his releases on Hanson, Absurd and Entr'acte. Original front cover painting by Rudolf Eb.er Mastered and cut at D+M Edition of 500, vinyl only >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top SAM PREKOP - Old Punch Card LP/CD Thrill Jockey Records thrill246 Release date: September 7 www.thrilljockey.com/artists/?id=10040 Sam Prekop is known to most as the singer and songwriter of The Sea and Cake. He is a painter of some renown, a photographer and in addition he has released two solo albums of pop songs infused with his own blend of African and Brazilian guitar rhythms. Old Punch Card, his first solo effort since 2005, takes a dramatically unexpected turn away from either of these paths. Prekop described the move thus, "I'd have to say this record is pretty much unlike anything else I've done. There's some relation to music I made for my book Photographs but really only in instrumentation. The intro to The Sea and Cake's David Bowie cover of 'Sound and Vision', on One Bedroom is an early precedent. The most significant difference, is that I've left the confines of 'song' structure." The LP and CD each come in an edition of hand painted covers. "In painting the covers I found an appropriate shorthand to describing the music or re-imagining it. Start with nothing and without deduction an image appears reflecting only itself, the music arrived similarly.  said Prekop. Taking inspiration from early music concrete and electronic music, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Nuno Canavarro, Raymond Scott, David Behrman, and free improvisation, Old Punch Card is a beautifully noisy, jagged, yet stately album of synthesizer music. The ideas and implementation of Old Punch Card (the album title alluding to the electronic, faintly mechanic origins of the music) were the result of an entirely new challenge: to do something completely different from anything else he's ever created. To facilitate this end, Prekop implemented a series of strict guidelines for the recording of the album. No vocals, no guitar (though he slipped in this regard on one track), and no beats. Most of the sound material is generated by a modular synthesizer. By its very nature, it excels at some things and not at others. It's very difficult to play a conventional chord, while on the other hand, it excels at creating completely unanticipated sounds and is rather effective when it comes to "chance" composing strategies. Each piece is in a travelogue form, all of them starting somewhere only to end somewhere else entirely. The means of transition between the elements purpose the compositions, often starting scrambled with agitation, then resting on a mechanical pattern that proves to be serenely predictable. The title track is a perfect example of this transition. "The Silhouettes" has perhaps the most tangible melodic arc to it, and the melody was guided in response to the rhythmic drone that's underlying. The album was recorded entirely in Prekop's home studio and monitored on headphones, allowing him to focus on the texture and dynamic of the music. Every nuance was hyper exposed and therefore had to be considered. Prekop would spend perhaps a week or more generating raw material ideas on the synthesizer, recording everything of even slight interest. Usually some element would stand out as more diverting than another and would lead him in that direction. At some point he'd then look for "sound snippets" that he found especially appealing, extract them, and then start "arranging" these "sound snippets" and then loosely build from there while also trying to stay alert for "happy accidents", chance combinations, and unexpected melody. All of the pieces were recorded between February 2009 and March 2010 but the bulk of the material was recorded in the last three winter months. The end result is a record of strangely serene beauty, leading the listener down a myriad of otherworldly paths, all the while serving as a unique path for the musician himself. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top SENKING - Pong CD audio + CD data raster-noton R-N 122 Release date: September 6 www.raster-noton.net PONG - referring to the classic video game - is Senking's fiffth release on raster-noton, moving its focus on stretched dubstep rhythms. To these slow motion grooves, he adds shredded melodies, sub basses and echoes, which create an atmosphere like an Angelo-Badalamenti-soundtrack known from David Lynch's movies. His electronic sound aesthetic reflects rather an organic texture than a machine made algorithm. In tradition of former dub producers, he generates his tracks while playing, and therefore they appear to be momentary. They are aware of the club, but do not want to serve it. At Berlin's CTM 2010 Senking proofed that PONG can be massive on stage as well. A 3D-interpretation of classic PONG by visual artists and software producers of almost sync is attached to the album in a mac and windows version. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top SOLAR BEARS - She was Coloured in 2LP/CD Planet Mu Records ZIQ270 Release date: September 20 www.planet.mu www.myspace.com/solarbears Hailing from Ireland; Wicklow and Dublin to be precise, Solar Bears are JOHN KOWALSKI and RIAN TRENCH, the sole producers and musicians on the album She Was Coloured In. They met and formed at Pulse Sound Engineering School, started recording and were swiftly picked up by Planet Mu. The album follows in the wake of expectation laid down by their recent "Inner Sunshine EP" and a series of remixes. Solar Bears' music is the soundtrack to a good life. Their song writing and production has a languid, pastoral grace that intertwines rock and electronics, twisting melodies through prog rock's structures and sounds, occasionally making sharp turns into more tense post rock territory, sliding between longer tracks and short mood-setting miniatures. The album mixes analogue electronica with the quietly epic perspective and shimmering neon synths of late 70's, early 80's Kosmiche music and the synth pop it informed. She Was Coloured In starts with the cosmic disco intro of "Forest of Fountains" before moving straight into gorgeous watery Rhodes and vocoder with "Children of the Times". "Twin Stars" takes huge synth lead chords and builds up the drama with synthlines anad arpeggios. By "Head Supernova", we're floating in beatless ambience, with a miniature that is reminiscent of chilly 80's synthscapes. The album starts moving again with the sophoric trance of "Cub", before synth pop is evoked with the laidback evocative arpeggios of "Hidden Lake". "Dolls" pits a children's choir against rolling guitars while "Neon Colony" mixes gliding bottleneck guitar and triumphant synths. The album finishes with "Perpetual Meadow "'s sleepy sunkissed drone before stopping abruptly and making you drop down to earth. Spend some time with the Solar Bears. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top TEHO TEARDO - Soundtrack Work 2004-2008 CD Expanding Records ecd31:10 www.expandingrecords.com www.tehoteardo.com Teho Teardo is one half of 'Modern Institute' with Martina Bertoni and in 2006 they released the critically aclaimed debut album Excellent Swimmer on Expanding Records, Teho's work as Modern insttitute makes up but a small part of his creative world and since the release of Modern Institute's debut album he has worked on many varied musical projects, collaborations and sound installations, more recently though he has become well-known for his award winning soundtrack work in his birthplace of Italy. The album Soundtrack Works 2004-2008 is a selective compilation of his recent work in film music which has won him many major awards and much critical acclaim. The album includes incidental music from the international hit and Cannes jury prize winner Il Divo for which he also won the Ennio Morricone prize at the Italia film festival. Ennio Morricone himself presented the prize to Teho and the Il Divo soundtrack went on to win the David di Nonatello prize, the most important prize for music in Italian cinema. Teho's method of working takes in much more than a film's imagery. Teho starts work immediately after reading the film's script and by doing this creates music that has a life of its own creating compositions that work as music in their own right. Soundtrack Work 2004-2008 is an album which apart from being 'music for films' also conjures up worlds outside those created by Teho for the cinema. ENNIO MORRICONE had this to say about the album: "Teho Teardo searches for originality through difficult forms, using repetition, an economy of materials and a personal minimalism; in short, through a continuous 'passacaglia' he searches for solutions that can fit both his needs and those of the film he writes music for. Experience tells me that sooner or later, those who seek will find and in the passages between searching and finding there are important moments, moments such as the ones we can hear on this beautiful album." This album is a record of the extraordinary early work of an important new name in the world of film music. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top TOMAS PHILLIPS - Quartet for Instruments CD Humming Conch Conch007 www.hummingconch.net www.myspace.com/tomasphillips Relying predominantly on acoustic instrumentation, Quartet for Instruments compounds exploratory inspiration, precision, and elegance to create a work that is both evocative and absolute. As a well-versed artist with many distinct styles, Tomas Phillips has released works on such notable labels as Trente Oiseaux, Line, NVO, and Koyuki, as well as having an extensive background in contemporary literature and fine arts. Created with piano, clarinet, minimal electronics, and cello during a two-month residency program at Headlands Center for the Arts, outside of San Francisco, California, Quartet for Instruments stands as a delicate, yet flourishing example of directional music, set in a gentle, free-flowing pathway. The piece is very much an extension of Intermission/Six Feuilles (Line, 2006), which attempted to harness various influences into a focused, composition-driven work. Where Quartet for Instruments differs is in the depth of its arrangement and in the fact that it utilizes recordings (mostly piano and clarinet) of improv. Thus, it operates at the midpoint between composition and improvisation. Like Intermission/Six Feuilles, it is also a fairly demanding piece in the sense that it relies on an aesthetic of duration with minimal repetition. It does contain movements, though these are not necessarily independent of one another; the piece is intended to function as a singularity with decisive variations. - Will Thomas Long & Tomas Phillips Tomas Phillips (b. 1969) is a composer, novelist, and teacher whose sound work focuses on improvisational performance and minimalist through-composition. He began composing electronic music in the early 1990s, releasing limited edition cd-rs, most notably under the moniker Eto Ami (with Dean King), and has since created music for installations and collaborations in dance and theatre. Labels to release his music include Trente Oiseaux, Line, Non Visual Objects, and Koyuki. Phillips has taught in the disciplines of literature and fine arts at various universities in the US, Québec, and Finland. He completed an interdisciplinary PhD at Concordia University in Montréal in 2007 and currently teaches in the field of contemporary literature. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top ZEITKRATZER - WHITEHOUSE [electronics] CD Zeitkratzer Records zkr0007 Release date: October 22 www.zeitkratzer.de williambennett.blogspot.com All music by WHITEHOUSE, William Bennett Arranged by Reinhold Friedl 1| Munkisi Munkondi 05:04 2| Nzambi Ia Lufua 02:43 3| Scapegoat 04:30 4| Fairground Muscle Twitcher 02:34 5| Bia Mintatu 06:53 6| The Avalanche 04:19 zeitkratzer directed by Reinhold Friedl Frank Gratkowski < clarinets Matt Davis < trumpet Hilary Jeffery < trombone Reinhold Friedl < piano Rhodri Davies < harp Maurice de Martin < drums, percussion Burkhard Schlothauer < violin Anton Lukoszevieze < violoncello Ulrich Phillipp < double bass Ralf Meinz < sound rehearsals and mixing in collaboration with William Bennett [WHITEHOUSE] All music recorded at Festival Les Musiques GMEM Marseille, France, May 14, 2009 recorded by Ralf Meinz, mixed and mastered by Ralf Meinz and Reinhold Friedl produced by Reinhold Friedl William Bennett is one of the great pioneers of noise and industrial music. His influential project WHITEHOUSE has become a worldwide reference. The music on this CD and the arrangements by Reinhold Friedl were worked out in close collaboration with William Bennett and the zeitkratzer musicians. The compositions are short, very clear, and have an unbelievable impact, the sounds are harsh and exactly defined. This music is an adventurous journey into the amplified acoustic noise of musical instruments. This project would not have been possible without the experience of zeitkratzer in noise and sound music, for example in their collaborations with Merzbow, Lou Reed, Zbigniew Karkowski or Keiji Haino. This CD is one of the most concentrated and precise noise works zeitkratzer has ever presented. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> top We are not responsible for the contents of external internet sites