[engl] In advance of a scintillating 12” EP, Ever/Never perplexes the masses with another Maximum Ernst curveball that is a harbinger of things to come. Like some form of residue from the past, “Signal Thru Flames” blends beats/speech/noise into a morass of ever-shifting shapes. Phases and phrases swan-dive off the 13th floor while cascades of right/wrong sounds slap you silly. Sir Steven Stapleton remixed the Vanity Records catalog? Iykyk. On the flip, the Maximum Ernst duo make like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft unearthing a long-lost Jon Hassell deep cut on “Orb-Like” and then bringing the secrets they learned all the way back home via the classical strain of “Glass Enclosure.” For Time Delay Safe, Maximum Ernst went stark raving mad in the Fourth World so that you could leave your body safe on the couch.

[engl] Minx / Zimmerman were a duo comprised of Don Minx (Marq van Broekhoven, now a well known comics artist) and Aldomir Zimmerman (Tonnie Eiting), two friends from the city of Eindhoven, who were into comics, avant–garde music and homemade cassette recordings. Influenced by diverse bands / artists such as John Foxx, Brian Eno, Fad Gadget, Sparks or Devo, (among many others), they decided to release an album. "Minx / Zimermman" was the result, self–released on their Freudian Backroom label, now very sought–after by minimal wave collectors.

[engl] Dieter Moebius—one half of the legendary duo Cluster and the godfather of electronic krautrock—passed away in the summer of 2015. Bureau B are reissuing his final four solo albums. Following on from Blotch and Nurton (2016) Kram and Ding now complete the quartet. The last two albums will be availabe on vinyl for the very first time. Liner notes were penned by Moebius’ friend, the U.S. composer, producer and musician Tim Story.

[engl] Dieter Moebius—one half of the legendary duo Cluster and the godfather of electronic krautrock—passed away in the summer of 2015. Bureau B are reissuing his final four solo albums. Following on from Blotch and Nurton (2016) Kram and Ding now complete the quartet. The last two albums will be availabe on vinyl for the very first time. Liner notes were penned by Moebius’ friend, the U.S. composer, producer and musician Tim Story.

[engl] Dieter Moebius is one of the most important protagonists of avant-garde electronic music in Germany. Alongside his bands Kluster/Cluster and Harmonia, he participated in numerous collaborations (with the likes of Brian Eno and Mani Neumeier/Guru Guru). Seven years after Moebius passed away in July 2015, Asmus Tietchens, one of his musical companions, compiled this collection for Bureau B – he concentrated on his solo works "as they offer the clearest insight into his personality and inventive potential". Together, Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius were CLUSTER. Their influence on the development of electronic music in Germany since the early 1970s has been considerable. If we were to represent the two of them as woodcuts reflecting their musical characteristics, Roedelius would be the baroque version of CLUSTER and Moebius the motorik minimalist. Their solo releases make this all the more obvious, but the serendipitous combination of such divergent components is what makes the music of CLUSTER so wondrously magical. Aside from his many collaborations with a wide variety of musicians, there are just seven Moebius solo albums, one of which (“Metropolis”) was released posthumously in 2015. Moebius always wanted to create pop music and he actually thought of Cluster as pop. On the sleeve of the Cluster album “Zuckerzeit” he can be seen sporting a colourful Hawaiian shirt whilst sitting on Roedelius’s knee. He found more than enough to astonish him in the here and now, so esoteric, transcendent, fantastical notions were alien to him. The names he gave to the tracks which populated his LPs and CDs categorically rejected any form of overindulgence. He may have thought he was making pop music, but his interest in the material, aural substance aligns him more closely with contemporary classical composers. The repetitive patterns he favoured had less to do with baroque ornamentation and everything to do with minimal shifts in sound and rhythm, their rigour enhanced, time and again, by strange “little” electronic noises and reverberating layers. On second listening, the exotic nature of his music truly comes alive. Moebius rarely deviates from linear rhythms or tonal harmonies, yet is able to create a world of sound within this rhythmic/harmonic framework which is unmistakeably his own. Never big on messages or statements, his focus has always been on feeling good about - and in - his music, a sensation he sought to share with his listeners. As far as I know, his listeners absolutely feel good in the presence of his music. For this collection, , my fascination with his music as strong as ever, I have deliberately zeroed in on Moebius’s solo works, as they offer the clearest insight into his personality and inventive potential. Another quality of this outstanding musician is revealed in the wealth of artistic collaborations mentioned earlier: modesty. Moebius never attempts to dominate his fellow players, never seeks to stamp his mark on a production. Without hiding his light under a bushel, he always manages to craft something new from the most diverse of inputs – including his own. It is a sign of his class that all contributors are on equal footing, a damned unusual state of affairs! Moebius always wanted to make pop music, but he never wanted to be a pop star.

[engl] By 1969 at the latest, Dieter Moebius was synonymous with the avant-garde electronic music scene in Germany. He and Hans-Joachim Roedelius formed Cluster, a seminal electronic/ambient duo, whilst Moebius was also a member of the so-called Krautrock supergroup Harmonia (with Michael Rother and Roedelius), as well as collaborating on various other projects with the likes of Brian Eno and Mani Neumeier from Guru Guru. Somehow, it took Moebius until 1983 to release his own solo debut album, Tonspuren. Tonspuren is an album of minimalisms, miniatures and stringent form, ten consistently concise and precise pieces. Moebius develops tonal variations out of minimalistic, rhythmic, harmonic basic tracks, sometimes coming close to tangible melodies. Yet this is exactly the point at which he purposely steers clear of electronic pop criteria. Nevertheless, Tonspuren is a pop album, its radically stripped down contents replenished with harmonious elements of prevalent popular music. Echoes of Cluster notwithstanding, the music of Tonspuren is a separate entity altogether. Moebius seems to be avoiding improvisation as the devil keeps his distance from holy water. Each piece is thoughtfully composed, as Moebius crafts his miniatures layer by layer. Spontaneous inaccuracies have no place here, noise escapades are nipped in the bud. Baroque, folklore and frivolity are not admitted into the studio when the red light is on. Thanks to Tonspuren, the keen listener now has the opportunity of direct comparison in his appraisal of the solo albums of Dieter Moebius, Hans Joachim Roedelius and Michael Rother. What role did each of the Harmonia triumvirate play in creating the style of the supergroup? Tonspuren thus represents a vital piece of the Harmonia puzzle.

[engl] In 1983, Dieter Moebius (Cluster) and legendary producer Conny Plank teamed up for the third time, resulting in the Zero Set project. On this occasion, they were backed up by one of the best drummers on the German rock scene: Mani Neumeier of Guru Guru. Moebius had got to know and admire him as the live drummer for Harmonia (Moebius, Roedelius, Rother) and during the recording sessions for their second album (De Luxe). Conny Plank, usually more of a background figure as producer, takes an equal share of the limelight alongside the musicians. His supermodern studio is brought into play like an instrument in its own right; Plank explores the full range of audio editing, pushing recording techniques to the limit to achieve maximum brilliance and plasticity. Neumeier uses all of his many years of experience as a drummer, demonstrating the precision and stamina of a drum machine, just infinitely livelier and more inventive. And finally, to Moebius. Always one of the patriarchs of German electronic music, a creator of the most bizarre sound happenings, yet never sounding forced or arbitrary. On the contrary, he consistently worked within the context of the tracks themselves and their relationship to each other. The music on Zero Set flows both smoothly and energetically. No single idea is overplayed, none of the tracks hits the ten minute mark. Aural and musical structures are concentrated to the point of askesis, yet there is no mistaking just how much the musicians are relishing playing together – these are the two very different, yet defining characteristics of the album. Moebius, Neumeier and Plank are unsentimental in their use of technology, exploiting it as an effective tool in pursuit of their musical vision. Three musicians at the top of their game and far too smart to allow their efforts to drift into psychedelic meanderings.

[engl] Mosquitoes are back and they are deadlier than ever. On Minus Objects, their second 12” EP for Ever/Never Records, Mosquitoes challenge the abyss to a staring contest. Utilizing deep-sixed static dub imperatives over post- punk’s skeletal remains, the enigmatic trio feint & parry, duck & weave, zig & zag like they were born to slip out of your grasp and into your bloodstream. Within Mosquitoes’ all-encompassing buzz, we find a distant link to Mars’ furious caterwaul, a direct connection to the frizzle-fried no wave of Sightings, and a tense granularity that recalls Radian’s studies of disintegration. As the title implies, Mosquitoes create entrancing music using methods of subtraction. Paradox runs rampant over these nine tracks as Mosquitoes gesture towards the intimate, while retaining their forbiddingly alien textures. “Minus Object Four” overwhelms with resonant vocal hum, while “Minus Object Eight” is as desolate and haunted as any Burial track. Few bands can be convincingly accused of pushing the decrepit body of rock music into the future. Mosquitoes do so by hiding the corpse in a deep chamber where shadows lurk and mysteries abound. Elusive, unnerving, sense-scrambling -- this is Mosquitoes’ modus operandi. They are a short-circuit made manifest, a cipher without decryption, a riddle without words. Mosquitoes transform the incidental movements of playing electric music (amp hum, string contact, cymbal brushes, ambient clatter) to conjure beguiling rhythmic structures. The initial impression is haphazard, but soon the mastery, and the majesty, become glaringly obvious. Mosquitoes have so thoroughly harnessed control of their close-mic’d soundworld that to observe the final result in its natural state is a thing of wonder. On Minus Objects, Mosquitoes have achieved a grand new pinnacle.

[engl] The first impression was that I could be going to listen to a sexy piece of exotica music from the heydays of the tiki culture back in the 50s and early 60s but then I checked the year of production and it said 1971. Also this is a European production, from France to be more precisely. Nino Nardini was a master of library sound productions for movies, TV series’ and other events back then and this album is him taking his turn on what legends like Martin Denny and Frank Hunter created for the ultimate listening experience about ten or twelve years back when people intended to escape from the struggle of all day’s life and the fear of the cold war turning hot through dreamy music that combined an easy and relaxed jazz with jungle sounds and colorful melodies creating an atmosphere of exotic places. Especially the flashing female humming choirs were typical for that old exotica music. Nino Nardini refreshes those - in 1971 already ancient - musical values with more contemporary elements of hot blooded funk and especially its wild percussion patterns, sweet wahwah guitars and an ever present rocking rhythm section. Blues and psychedelic rock flow gently into the mix to expand the effect on your imagination. The whole music here is lush with great arrangements. Grandiose string patterns often vest the atmosphere of great mysticism in a garment of lust for life and let the listener discover a peaceful world of swirling colors. The earthy rock aspect of the music then urges to come to the fore when the time is right before you seem to get lost on Eden’s island spiritually just to get yourself back to the smoky urban clubs where the air is heavy and the sweat drips from the ceiling. All in all this is a beautiful soundtrack for fans of both worlds, the urban funk of the early 70s and the dreamy exotica music of the 50s and 60s. Both worlds get close to each other and at some points pervious towards each other. “Jungle obsession” is a fine example of well executed library music of the 70s and indeed plays a not existing movie in your head with all different moods. Sheer excitement if you can catch the flow.

[engl] Minimal synthesizer project by Emmanuel Satti.

[engl] One of the very earliest and most important examples of electronic tape music to be pressed on to vinyl (alongside the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française musique concrète compilations in France and Jim Fassett’s comedic Strange To Your Ears novelty record) this privately pressed 1955 LP was released on a one-off label owned by businessman Gene Bruck to document a custom made performance at the New York Museum Of Modern Art back in 1952. This facsimile edition of this important LP archives remastered versions of the first recorded unison of Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky and a partnership that founded the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center at Columbia University in 1959, which would later count Ilhan Mimaroglu, Wendy Carlos, Dariush Dolat Shahi and Alice Shields as its graduates. The October 28th 1952 performance showcased the debut of the seminal Fantasy In Space based on resampled flute recordings which were manipulated on magnetic tape to create an otherworldly melodic composition, stylistically begging comparison with the early recording of Kraftwerk (made some twenty years later) and bringing a palatable and tuneful alternative to the stark avant garde experiments of their French counterparts. The mechanical construction of the track was even “performed” on prime time American television to celebrate this groundbreaking approach to modern music. Alongside four other tracks the full programme comprises further experiments with manipulated recordings of bells and woodwind instruments subjected to mechanical “augmentation, diminution and retrograding” to create pieces that “cannot be played with conventional instruments.” In the following years labels like Folkways and Desto would also plunder this important session as a milestone in electronic music. For the purpose of this release Cacophonic have also included the seldom heard 14 minute track A Poem In Cycles And Bells For Tape Recorder And Orchestra which was recorded using the same techniques with the Royal Danish Radio Orchestra in 1956 and released via the Composers Recordings Inc. label founded by Otto himself in 1954 (employing Vladimir in an advisory capacity) and operated for forty-nine years – releasing records by Harry Partch, Alwin Nikolais, John Cage and Alice Shields. Also included on this edition is an expansion of the rare 10? original artwork by legendary graphic designer Ronald Clyne, an early example of his work made before he became in-house designer for Folkways Records rivaling the likes of Blue Note’s Reid Miles for some of America’s most iconic record sleeves.

[engl] Reissued for the first time! Plus 2 Bonus Tracks! Pierre Henry is most popular among rock fans for his collaboration with the English band SPOOKY TOOTH in 1969 but already had a great reputation as composer and performer in the field of modern classics, musique concrète and pioneering electronic avant garde. And so it is obvious that there have been quite a few albums by him and in cooperation with other artists not necessarily from the field of music. This record at hand dates back to 1958 and has been issued in an utterly limited quantity of 333 copies which nowadays go for 400,00+ EUROS among collectors. It features sound contributions by Pierre Henry, spoken word performances by popular French actors Michel Vitold and Silvia Montfort basing on two texts by fellow actor and singer Claude Pascal. It can be rather seen as an audio book than a regular music record backed with sounds. And the musical part of this album is even quite intense with a haunting atmosphere. If you understand French fairly well it will certainly bring you even more joy. This is a haunting affair, droning and disturbing at times. The drone music, the musique concrète shows the roots of what should become cosmic music in the late 60s and early 70s performed mostly by artists such as TANGERINE DREAM. And indeed there are a few moments here that remind me of the classic „Zeit“ double album by Edgar Froese and his mates. You have to engage in this record if you want to really enjoy it for this is just utterly strange. A sound experiment, a twisted and creepy manifestation of weird thoughts in something that is loosely connected to music. A challenge for sure. But if you love the obscure and have a heart for avant garde music you are welcome to this first ever reissue of a long time vanished record.

[engl] The debut album of Psycheek - the musical alias of 19-year old artist Fredrik Veiga, and his mind-blowing take on deconstructed club. A varied expression, nodding towards a variety of electronic sub-genres. Dark, intense, experimental, and impressively innovative.

[engl] The musician Kurt Dahlke is not only a member of the bands Der Plan and Fehlfarben, founding member of the group DAF and co-founder of the label Ata Tak, he has also released a stellar line of solo works under the name Pyrolator for which he enjoys great critical acclaim. What began in 1979 with the first release "Inland" continues it's lineal thread with new work "Niemandsland" – the sixth album within the Land series. It was 1979, some 43 years ago, when Pyrolator released Inland, an instrumental protest album, as he liked to think of it. Autumnal protests against nuclear weapon stations, against the entire structures of the war generation, but without the pathos of the rebellious songs which soundtracked the 1968 movement. Apart from a few samples, there were no words at all. Now, more than four decades later, Kurt Dahlke alias Pyrolator returns to his origins. But not, this time, in protest: “The clock already stands at ten past midnight and we have arrived in no man’s land. Neither the student movement nor the rejectionist stance of punk changed anything. Avarice has emerged victorious and no future is nothing more than an empty cliché. This is what global reality looks like. The principle of cause and effect.” This is also a back to the roots story for Pyrolator in the musical sense. Niemandsland was created exclusively with modular synthesizers, the computer merely a recording device. All of the tracks were played live and direct – neither storable nor replicable. The sixth album in Pyrolator’s Land series is more than just a bridge to the past and the music to be found there. It has a formal language all of its own, meandering between the beauty of crystal clear melodies and restrained ambient moments on the one hand and rugged, dystopian brittleness on the other. A cycle revolving between the hope of a revolution for humanity and arrival in no man’s land.

[engl] A respected innovator on the Rio de Janeiro music scene since the mid 90s, Gomes is best known for his work on the trio of critically-acclaimed albums Caetano Veloso released in the late 00s: Cê (2006), Zii and Zie (2009) and Abraçaço (2012). Playing bass on these modern milestones in post-Tropicalia, and subsequently touring the world with Veloso, inspired Gomes to record his debut album -11, released in 2015. On -11 Gomes played all the instruments himself and relied solely on his instincts in terms of the direction to take: The Wire praised the album saying it “recalls other rough and ready highly personal solo debut albums by Laetitia Sadier and Money Mark” whilst the Chicago Reader fell for it’s “weirdly hermetic sound world, alternating between tender, introspective ballads, rude electronic grooves, and dissonant ambience”. Ricardo now lives in Lisbon and this new mini-album is called "Aa" features, among others, Arto Lindsay and is released via SDZ records in Europe and Kill Shaman in North America.

[engl] Revered Hamburg musician, synthesist and DJ RVDS joins the Bureau B ranks with the meditative and mellifluous sounds of ‘Moods and Dances 2021’ - a musical present from the future past.