The ambient/IDM thread.

[limp]

Drexciya, now that's not a name that pops up all that often.

What about Dopplereffekt? Discogs lists Donald as a member, but is it reasonable to assume that Stinson had a hand in that as well?

Edited September 3, 2012 by limp

[Knuckledragger]

James Stinson didn't have anything to do with Dopplereffekt. While they're both Detroit electro, there's a pretty different sonic blueprint between the two projects. Gerald Donald hasn't produced anything as eccentric and weird as what he did with Stinson. Conversely, Stinson's work without Donald is quite strange on its own. At this point, most of the credits for the Stinson/Donald projects on Discogs are correct.

[limp]

Now that you say it, it makes perfect sense.

There is a lot in common between Drexciya and f.ex. Abstract Thought, but very little between AT and Doppler.

[Dusty Chalk]

I still cherish my Drexciya CD's.

(takes off hat, bows head for a moment)

[Knuckledragger]

ZOMG. Ulrich Schnauss has a new release. Free download

here.

[Dusty Chalk]

I recorded three albums that were trying to translate the early '90s shoegaze aesthetic into an electronic context.

Damn, that's him in a nutshell.

[Knuckledragger]

My FB feed has been blowing up this morning with news of the passing of Peter Kuhlmann AKA Pete Namlook. There's not much info on news sites, but I did find this article on Resident Advisor.

It's difficult to overstate the significance of Namlook in the world of ambient music. He founded FAX +49-69/450464 Records (usually known just as "FAX"), which put out a massive catalog of releases in the las two decades.

Most FAX recordings had painfully small pressing numbers. I remember in the 90s it was nigh on impossible get most of their stuff in the States. Fortunately, some of it was released in the US by Instinct Records. In the age of the mp3 (and the FLAC) it's a different story.

I'm not posting any track by Pete, for a couple reasons. First off, there are so many (So. Many.) that trying to pick one would take the rest of the day. Secondly, many of the really good ones are over 20 minutes. Lastly, much of Pete's music is meant to be heard as an entire album. I might put one up later.

[Dusty Chalk]

Unholy carp!

I've subscribed to Fax since, like, year two. Or maybe three. Discovered him because he did a collaboration with one of my heroes, Klaus Schulze (The Dark Side of the Moog). Been following him faithfully ever since.

I has a sad.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I just checked and I have a few albums by Pete - Air, Ozoona and Dreamfish 2. That's sad to lose someone so young (my age), and he was a good artist too.

[Knuckledragger]

The information age is a wacky thing. I'm Facebook friends with Geir Jenssen (the man behind Biosphere and a god in his own right in the world of ambient music.) He was personal friends with Pete Namlook. They recorded two albums together under the name Fires of Ork. Geir is an accomplished landscape photographer. Today he posted some some previously unseen photos of the recording of the first Fires of Ork album in 1993. They're a little underexposed and out of focus, but given that they were taken with a manual focus camera and print film using available light, they're pretty good.

[cutestory]

Wow those are great.

[Dusty Chalk]

That first one's Geir, isn't it?

[Knuckledragger]

The first photo is in fact Pete, but I was wrong on the date. It's from the recording sessions for the second Fires of Ork album in October of 2000.

Peter and

Jenny Gibbert recording the vocals for "In Heaven" in Traben-Trarbach, Rheinland-Pfalz, October 2000.

Pete and

Kathrin Kruse at Grevenburg, Traben-Trarbach, 1993. Katherin sang the vocals on "Talk To The Stars" from the first Fires of Ork album.

Katherin in the studio. I think the OOF guy on the left is Pete.

[Dusty Chalk]

Wow. Sometimes the information age leads to the coolest things ever. Don Verbrilli, the guy behind The Verbrilli Sound, recently joined facebook. I send him a friend request and included a note telling him how much I enjoyed his music, specifically Dizney. He wrote me back:

How cool is that? I don't have any Steve Miller Band at home, but fortunately for me there's a shit ton on Grooveshark. Initially I thought the beats came from Swingtown, which starts with just drums and has been heavily sampled over the years. After doing some A/B listening, I'm not so sure.

The bit from 0:57 is distinctly the opening from "Take the Money and Run", if that's any help.

[Knuckledragger]

The bit from 0:57 is distinctly the opening from "Take the Money and Run", if that's any help.

Werd. I just did a quick listen and you're right. I contacted Don on FB (after a year, heh) and told him as much.

This isn't really ambient or IDM, but it's pretty amazing live electro using a stack of vintage equipment. The funny blue and yellow thing is a really rare analogue drum kit.

[Dusty Chalk]

...after a year, heh...

Indeed, heh.

I'm not usually very good at samplespotting, so the fact that I actually recognized it, I had to post. I tend towards classic rock for my own lifted drums, mostly because that's what's most familiar.

[Knuckledragger]

Indeed, heh.

I'm not usually very good at samplespotting, so the fact that I actually recognized it, I had to post. I tend towards classic rock for my own lifted drums, mostly because that's what's most familiar.

 

I spoke to Don recently on FB and he said the following:

 

in fact the entire drum sound from dizney is the drums of take the money and run... just a snippet of that solo fill at 0:57.. ha ha.... don't tell steve or his record label!

 

 

The following is not remotely ambient or IDM, but it's pretty important in the history of electronic music. 22 years ago today, the KLF released a unique mix of one of their most famous tracks, under the name The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu. They pressed a very small number copies on a single-sided gray 12" and never re-released it any form. In the vinyl era, and in fact until quite recently this version was was complete unobtanium. Copies still change hands for hundreds of dollars. Miraculously, it has never been bootlegged. Thanks to a well-connected friend of mine, I have a FLAC of a vinyl rip done with considerable skill. All of this would be moot if the song was lousy, but as it turns out it's a bit of a timeless masterpiece. The Original Club Mix is deceptively simple, oppressively dark and does not remotely resemble what UK 'ardcore rave music sounded like at the time. To really appreciate it, one must hear it on a HUGE sound system, preferably at an illegal party in a dingy warehouse. Failing that, a good pair of headphones will suffice. The theme of the track, the economic and urban decay of the northern cities in the UK, is of course irrelevant in today's world. Oh, wait...

 

Grooveshark version, which has much higher quality audio.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96nBBHvq4bM

[Mellifluous Crunk]

To me, Tim Hecker is the king of modern ambient. His soundscapes are utterly beautiful and complex. I've never heard anything from him that isn't... transporting in some fashion. Hope those of you who haven't heard him yet dig it. 

 

[Dusty Chalk]

[Mellifluous Crunk]

Really? I'm fucking awful. But in a weird and sometimes acceptable way, like glitchy Japanese electronic that sounds like dying harddrives.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I like Hecker, Köner, Schutze (Paul, not Klaus Schulze, although I do love his music, too), Lustmord, Black Lung, and that entire camp, which I've taken to calling 'damnbient'.  Also, Merzbow, K.K. Null (seen him live, have one of his paintings, and autographed), Controlled Bleeding/Paul Lemos, Pan Sonic (also seen them live), et al, but that's a bit more extreme and probably outside of the scope of this thread.

 

Heck, I was listening to JK Flesh, "Obedient Automaton" from Worship is the Cleansing of Imagination while I read your post.  Which sounds sort of like Phaedra-era Tangerine Dream meets Godflesh.

...glitch...sounds dying harddrives.

That's kind of redundant.

[Knuckledragger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elihk9ALlp0

 

23 years ago today, Carl Craig set the stage for his long and storied career as one of the best artists ever to come out of Detroit. On a 12" acetate where he isn't even credited correctly, Carl released this deep, melodic techno masterpieces that sounds arguably more futuristic now than the day it was released. With over two decades of subsequent releases by a legion of other artists (from luminaries like B12 to louts like dead-mau-five), it's possible to hear the influence of this track and its deceptively simple melody. "Elements" exemplifies everything that Detroit techno, and electronic music in general, can be.

 

YouTube embed for simplicity, Grooveshark offers much higher quality. 

 

 

[Knuckledragger]

 

Wow.  This is pretty amazing, given the minimal amount of equipment used.

[Knuckledragger]

Video interview with Ulrich Schnauss.  Contains copious synth porn, including a stupidly rare Obie 8 Voice and an Octave Plateau Voyetra 8.  Both are vintage polyphonic analogue unobtanium. To put it delicately, *fap* *fap* *fap*

 

It looks like he uses HD-580s.

[Dusty Chalk]