Press
https://www.freeformfreakout.com/sub-sub-strata-vol-2/
admin /
April 18, 2022
GUENTER SCHLIENZ – “Music That Glows in the Dark” |
CS / DL (Eiderdown Records)
Guenter Schlienz has a steadfast career with a long history
of live performances across Europe and has accumulated a considerable body of
work spread across the international music community. The artist is based in
Stuttgart, Germany, and works with various effective flotation techniques. Waves
of controlled tone arc, suspended motion goes full gelatinous, arms turned to
noodles. “Music That Glows in the Dark” is the latest exploration, arp
actuated, compressed to resplendent hum. The text accompanying the new album includes a lovely short poem by 18th
century German mystic, philosopher, and author Novalis, which
is translated below, serving as an illuminating window into the mindset behind
the hypnotizing music.
“Which living, sensual person doesn’t love all the miraculous phenomena of
the widespread space around him, the joyful light?” – Novalis,
“Hymns to the Night”
Joyful light indeed. A lovely thought, each developing a greater love and
appreciation for that which surrounds us all, for space itself. With “Music That Glows in the Dark”, Schlienz uses
tapes and field recordings with his own homemade modular synthesizers and
electric organ to achieve complete weightlessness, strange personal lullabies
for lonely aliens. The word “Glühwürmchen” from one of the track titles
might offer a clue, which can be translated as “firefly”. Seattle’s great label
Eiderdown Records has well established itself with a solid
rotating cast of psychedelic all-stars. The ever growing catalog features a
baffling host of world class auteurs, with each release unique, and always
presented with the label’s own sharp aesthetic. They announced a pre-order
recently for new Elkhorn vinyl, which is obviously making the
world a better place, but Eiderdown really did us a solid by
making 100 copies of this new one from Guenter Schlienz.
They’ll probably disappear quickly, so don’t sleep. The artist’s personal
Bandcamp has hours of
penetrative iridescence on offer too, suit up sisters.
https://lostseasound.blogspot.com/2022/06/guenter-schlienz-music-that-glows-in.html
Guenter Schlienz - Music That Glows In The Dark
-
June 05, 2022
Guenter Schlienz has shifted once
again, away from the material plane. He rests with occluded presence in the
periphery aural expanse. Waving hands over transposed keyboards, theremins
or the virtual semblance of what once required analog contact. In this new
realm, flora and fauna saturate the sonic upheaval. The natural world
returning to provide both time and space, it's most plentiful resource.
There remain connections though, lulling rhythms stippened across a canvas
of other worldly melodies, out of this world lullabies and the prolifically
creative mind of Guenter Schlienz.
Music That Glows In The Dark is
four tracks around forty minutes in length. Guenter Schlienz seamlessly
amalgamates the mechanical process of a massive organ releasing air and the
ethereal vibrato of synthesizers in the earliest morning's twilight. Adding
creative instrumentation from David Colohan with voice, Niko playing drums
and the piano of Masako Kamikawa, Music That Glows In The Dark embodies
sublime sonic details and mysterious depth. Like a satellite traveling on in
infinite galactic journey, the aged hull is a nostalgic connection to empty
space and solar systems on the horizon. The sounds of home glow within the
enclosed circuitry while energy radiates in massive oscillations from the
surrounding expanse.
Releases in an edition of one
hundred by Eiderdown Records from Seattle. At this point, "classic"
Eiderdown artwork by Max Clotfelte. Unfortunately all physical editions are
sold out from the label.
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1310
=============
Week 46
=============
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ - UNSTET
(cassette by Meditape)
Music by Günter Schlienz, so I noted before, is on the edge of ambient and new
age, so seeing him do the inaugural release for a label called Meditape is not
strange. The catalogue number is Mantra 001. Does that mean Schlienz crossed the
bridge and is now fully new age? Not, still not 'over', and that is a great
thing. Schlienz is a man to play a DIY modular synth (according to the cover;
isn't do it yourself part of the whole idea of modular synths?), tape machines,
guitar and field recording. This time there is help on piano, electric guitar,
percussion and voice. What Schlienz does best, he does here, is to create
melancholic electronic tunes. It never borders on the totally abstract, but
Schlienz waves in small melodic lines, all
minor keys to evoke that sense of desolation and sorrow. And, perhaps, that is
the reason that is not really your new age record. That sort of sad lullaby
quality, mixing with weird sounds (in 'Salz', for instance, I have no idea what
these are; electric guitar? Amplified egg slicer) and more sustaining patterns
in other tracks. Schlienz touches upon the notion of an entirely composed piece,
and perhaps these are such. Still, he also knows how to make it sound like he's
merely sketching his ideas. That gives the music a different character as if
Schlienz is not really trying too hard, but at the same time, it all sounds
wonderful. I am quite a big fan of his music, and 'Unstet' follows a line of
great releases. I like the vagueness, the non-directiveness and the melodic
touches of it all. Music to meditate? Sure, if that is your thing. I enjoy it
equally without the meditation. (FdW)
––– Address: sanitymuffin@gmail.com
https://lostseasound.blogspot.com/2021/12/gunter-schlienz-unstet.html
Günter Schlienz - Unstet
-
December 05, 2021
Two dogs laying side by side with backs to each other. They are beneath
my feat and completely content. Many times this has happened in some form of
dog napping, but i am always busy with stuff to do, things to complete.
Today writing might be the thing, the music of Guenter Schlienz plays in the
foreground. While looking at the dogs, thoughts began to form on how very
special this is. They could sleep anywhere in the house, but they choose to
be next to me. Listening to this recent release titled Unstet, there is a
realization of how artists connect with us in levels we sometimes miss the
strength and emotion of. Artist's music plays in the background while we are
busy tasking time to finish responsibilities. Even with the musicians we
follow and love, there are still moments of explosive realization on how
special the relationship is and what it means to us. This is one of those
moments...
Unstet is another massive composition by Guenter Schlienz. The timbre and
tones he chooses to use are reflective and contemplating. You can here the
nostalgic metronome clicking in a faded black and white photo. The image
depicts a young person with a concerned grin as an adult looms over them
while playing the piano. A few pictures later, we see a washed out color
image of a young man with longer hair holding a way to big guitar, the grin
has become a true smile. Unstet plays in thoughts and has transformed.
Meditations of dream like upbringings have pushed past, we explore the
moment now. The solace with favorite artists has been invigorated once
again. Undisturbed listening providing opportunity to follow sonic pathways
to the thresholds of harmony. Guenter Schlienz has pulled me in with a
sonic grin and pushed consciousness towards aural meadows of unknown beauty.
The dogs still sleep back to back under my feet. They have no idea where i
have gone to experience this exquisiteness of life, but they will know the
love my journey with Unstet has energized me with.
This is the first release on the new label Meditape. This is a new
subsidiary label from the long running Sanity Muffin based in Oakland,
California.
Günter Schlienz's cassette release
Unstet is an an edition of one hundred and currently available. The
label already has a second release with Glasgow artist Ostrofti. A
composition titled
Sudden Vision Iones and also in an edition of one hundred. Both release
have artwork designed by Jetter Green.
https://complexdistractions/2020/11/11/gunter-schlienz-orphee-aux-enfers/
Günter Schlienz : Orphée aux Enfers
Posted on
November 11, 2020 by
J. Hubner
Orphée aux
Enfers, the new album from German musician and composer Günter Schlienz
is an exploratory and experimental music journey. It’s both playful and
steely in its composition and arrangements as Schlienz blends both classic
electronic experimental vibes from 70s German music innovators, as well as
more modern touches. Using an array of DIY modular synths, tape machines,
guitars, and field recordings, as well as viola, voices, piano, and
saxophone, Orphée aux Enfers is a world of sound built with both
the synthetic and organic.
According to
record label Moon Glyph Records, “Günter Schlienz is an electronic
musician and composer based in Stuttgart, Germany. He combines
do-it-yourself modular synths, tape machines, guitar and field recordings to
create cascading layers of ambience verging on musique concrète.”
Listening to
something like “Eurydike”, those cascading layers of ambience come through
beautifully. I feel as if I’ve been transported back 50 years. It has a
patina quality to it, aged to perfection after years of dormancy. The
electronic buzz and mysterious spaciousness of the track gives it just the
right amount of shaded enlightenment. It’s nearly 13 minute run time makes
for an extended listen into sparse, musical experiments. “Hades” has a
dream-like quality to it; modular synth takes the place of a theremin as
strings give the song an almost Japanese folk music quality. “Händel &
Gluck” continues that playful, hazy vibe. It locks into the feel of classic
Steve Reich and Terry Riley without ever feeling too close to their work.
Orphée aux
Enfers is an enthralling escape into sound experimentation and
compositional audacity. Dissonant headspaces combine with ambient bliss to
make Günter Schlienz’ Moon Glyph Records debut an exciting and singular
listening experience.
7.5 out of 10
Orphée aux
Enfers is available now via Moon Glyph Records. Order it
here.
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1253
=============
Week 41
=============
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ - MUTTERKUCHEN (cassette by Auasca)
As I noted before and as I will no doubt repeat in the future some more, I
do enjoy the work of Germany's Günther Schlienz quite a bit, but I also feel
some of it hoovers closely to the world of new-age. Sometimes more than at
other instances. 'Mutterkuchen' is one that is surely 'more' towards new-age
than less. In the information, Schlienz writes that this release is about
his inspirations, being Cluster, Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, but also,
quite surprising, Johan Sebastian Bach. The first piece is called 'Bach';
another one is 'Kosmische Musik'. In the Bach piece, we hear a cello, which
is no coincidence, I would think. Otherwise, this is an all-around
synthesizer affair. Because I was curious (well, finally!), I looked up what
kind of synthesizers Schlienz is using and it is mostly of the modular
variety. I am not an expert, so it doesn't mean much to me. All four pieces
sound delicate, fragile and light. Cluster is one hell of influence here,
save for the absence of any rhythm here, especially in 'Spoonful Of Stars',
whereas in 'Kosmische Musik', Schlienz delves into the history of Tangerine
Dream. Lovely mild music, of sustaining sounds and soft tinkling sounds;
indeed something that is quite close to the world of new age, but the synths
of 'Kosmische Musik', a bit darker and alien, so all ends well, I think. On
a darker autumn day, this is the perfect mood-enhancing album. Great stuff
once again! (FdW)
––– Address:
https://auasca.bandcamp.com/
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2020/11/guenter-schlienz-mutterkuchen-c40-auasca.html
Posted by
Ryan
at
November 11, 2020
GUENTER SCHLIENZ “Mutterkuchen” C40
(Auasca)
You know something’s up with Stuttgart
electronic composer Guenter Schlienz when he starts literally listening to
his DNA. He says there are “sounds and styles … encoded” in it, and these
“resonate heavily in [his] mind” and “rattl[e] his bones,” until they’re
forced to emerge via the fingers touching synthesizers in certain
predetermined patterns. These patterns are encoded within a computer
program. They are organized and refined. They are offered up to the world.
Mutterkuchen finds Schlienz pondering these broadcasts from within
his own body, wondering how they connect with the world and the wider
universe, maybe offering a way that he, himself, find meaning out there.
He’s certainly connected to the artists who have inspired him this time
around: Bach on “Bach” (I think …), Tangerine Dream and Cluster on “Spoonful
of Stars” and also, quite obviously, “Kosmische Music.” Basically he does
what he does best, which is close his eyes and follow a muse out into outer
space, like far out, and the sound of it reaches our ears at whatever point
the soundwaves travel the interstellar distance back to our receivers. He’s
a human broadcasting system, somehow surviving out there. Without a space
suit.
But it’s really for him, and you can tell. The sound is within him, and he
channels it in reverence for itself on its own terms. Doesn’t matter that
there are antecedents and inspirations – they just help him translate it.
And we are the lucky recipients who have it all translated for us.
Bystanders, somehow in the path of excellence and delight.
Also, Mutterkuchen translates to “mother cake” – seems obvious, I
think?
https://auasca.bandcamp.com/
--Ryan
https://lostseasound.blogspot.com/2021/01/gunter-schlienz-mutterkuchen.html
Günter Schlienz - Mutterkuchen
-
January 23, 2021
The vibrant orange sky casts it's majestic colors in
unequaled grandeur. Prismatic pageantry of both dawn and dusk comes
infrequently and always with patient speed. A moment of pinnacle
delight, when the fiery orange hue burns with a glow that can only
diminish. In order to experience this, we must set aside the time to
observe. Then, the beauty absorbed prompts the question, "why would i
ever miss this?". The refraction of the sun's radiance through long runs
of atmosphere and a density of exhumed particles happens twice every
day, yet most view this natural event on seldom occasions. Günter
Schlienz has tapped into the rhythm of natural beauty. The place where
sublime sounds fill thoughts and cause tension to flee. Sonic
equivalence to the breath we take and never think about or the love we
give with passion and true joy. Sounds as simple elixirs of raw energy.
A current of tranquility speckled with swirling eddies and sparkling
delight.
Mutterkuchen is four tracks in just under forty
minutes. Heartfelt and playful, a combination that works for the
enjoyment of all. Like the sun setting or rising, this composition is
waiting for the moment top be heard. Starting off with "Bach", a
selection resting in the pivot of classically structured music and the
electronic expanse. A stoic Mr. Schlienze, dressed in black tails with
hands outstretched playing the Theremin to an audience mesmerized with
wonder. "Spoonful of Stars" drifts in the cosmos. Mathematical equations
of density, orbits and gravity hold court while the nexus of the unknown
streaks across empty space. A seam rips open to another dimension with a
shuddering creak, harmonic beauty pours through. The longest track
"Komische Musik", oscillates with orchestral majesty. Like an opera
recited by gas giants across distances no one truly understands. Energy
speaking to energy, molded by time and physics. This is a special listen
and so worth setting aside the time.
Released in an edition of one hundred by the Los
Angeles, California label Auasca. Mutterkuchen is currently available in
cassette in original cassette format. Lots of good releases on the label
to explore as well.
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1208
=============
Week 47
=============
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ - ISLAND (cassette by Feathered Coyote Records)
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ - ICELANDIC TAPES (cassette by Hangover Central Station)
Recently I reviewed a new release by Schlienz and once again I noted the
careful drift of the man towards the world of new age music, but playing
'Moksha' from his 'Island' cassette, I think it will not be an easy
transition from ambient music to new age, as this is a subtly distorted
release of repeating drone, radio waves and some orchestral strings plucked
out of the ether. There is a voice that whispers/murmurs about LSD and it
could indeed be a tribute to Albert Hoffman's accidental invention of the stuff in 1938. The music is based on impressions
on reading Aldous Huxley (who drifted into death while on LSD). Schlienz'
music acts in a similar hallucinated way. 'Here
And Now' on the other side is also not your usual new age cup of tea. The
field recordings he uses are quite shrill and are mainly there in the
beginning. In the rest of the piece these field recordings disappear, and
the mild distortion stays but now with a slow and low melodic touch to
it. This is quite a lovely cassette; exactly the kind of ambient music I
like. It is very atmospheric and moody and has that wonderful rough edge
that doesn't make you fall asleep.
Also on the other
cassette, Schlienz' mind isn't clouded with incense. Here he presents a
series of pieces that he recorded on different locations in Iceland in
August 2017. He was armed with a small battery-operated synth and recorder
and maybe a microphone to capture some of the cold air (also August isn't
exactly tropical over there) or other surroundings and taking inspiration
from the rocky landscape. Maybe it is the limitation of the equipment or the
Spartan recording
circumstances but this is Schlienz in his most rough modus. His synthesizers
peep and crack or are otherwise a bit distorted or just a bit meaner, even
when things are quite soft, somewhere in the middle of this tape. Field
recordings don't play a very big role here, except for an occasional splash
of water and somebody coughing there; except for that bit of church
recording that takes some more time. This is the kind of modular synthesizer
music I like very much. Again it is moody
and atmospherically, but taking the experimental side up a bit more, making
this great stuff. This tape is packed in a neat black carton box and only
reveals information when the tape is removed.
(FdW)
––– Address:
https://featheredcoyoterecords.bandcamp.com/
––– Address:
https://hangovercentralstation.bandcamp.com/
http://www.tabsout.com/?p=22896
Günter Schlienz – 3 Tapes
11.12.19 by
Ryan Masteller
It’s almost impossible to think that
Günter Schlienz still
has so much to say. In the copy for one of these tapes, somebody mentions
that it’s his “thirtysomethingth” release (or thereabouts), meaning he’s
been around and doing it for a while, and doing it (and doing it and doing
it) well. I guess you’ll get to “thirtysomethingth” pretty quickly if you
release three or four tapes a quarter, among records and other things
(mostly records), and also if you have your own label, as Günter Schlienz
does with the excellent
Cosmic Winnetou. That doesn’t mean you can’t release things on other
labels. Günter Schlienz dabbles in that as well. In fact, as we review three
of the Stuttgart synth maestro’s opuses from the past few months and
consider them in the parlance of our times, we’re treated to no less than
one label per tape, and by the rules I’ve just defined, only one is Cosmic
Winnetou. That’s three labels giving us Günter Schlienz music! I’m so
pumped.
Günter Schlienz – Farbton I’m gonna dust off my old Google
Translate and plug in “Farbton,” and I get “hue.” Fair enough. How about
“Tiefes Weiß”? “Deep white.” “Flageolett Gelb”? “Flageolet yellow.” I knew
what the colors were in German, but I had no idea that a “flageolet” was a
flute-y kind of instrument, but now I do, and my vocabulary is increased.
But these things all make sense, the “hue,” the “white,” the “yellow.” The
tape itself has a two-tone shell, and I bet you can’t guess the colors on
each side, and which track they pertain to. Give up? I’m not falling for it,
nor do I have time to entertain silly answers. “Farbton” was recorded using
a “DIY synthesizer and cassette tape,” and “Tiefes Weiß” utilizes field
recordings and vocal samples and weaving together an utterly haunting
excursion through repetitious world-building, each pass through reinforcing
and invigorating the last and realizing the remarkable whole. “Flageolett
Gelb” unfolds like a lullaby, like someone’s humming the most beautiful tune
and it’s just carrying you off into wild unconscious adventures. Except that
their mouth is a synthesizer, so it’s even better than you thought at first.
Did I mention that each side’s a half hour long? Gosh, there’s so much going
on here. Cosmic Winnetou tape available exclusively on the “Galactic
Supermarket” tour, which is over now. EVERYTHING ENDS.
Günter Schlienz – The Icelandic Tapes Not to be outdone by
himself, Günter Schlienz took off for Iceland and made this one there (and
this is the description that has the “thirtysomethingth” line, so there’s
your citation). Still using his DIY synths, he captures the desolate
loneliness of the landscape, the simple progressions as filled with space
and cold as the island nation. Interspersed with field recordings, the
progressions repeat and converse, sinking into your mind and marrying your
imagination of what Iceland is (if you haven’t been there – I haven’t) or
your recollection of the place to Schlienz’s representations of the living,
breathing processes of Icelandic geography and society. Winds sweep across
vistas, lava bubbles in volcanic lakes, the northern lights flicker across
the night sky. Schlienz captures all of this in sound with a videographer’s
eye, and does so over 35 minutes (program repeats on side B). Stay for the
quirky ending! “Edition of 60 pro-dubbed cassettes housed in a cardboard
box” on Hangover
Central Station.
Günter Schlienz – “Island” Iceland, now “Island,” where are
we going next? Not where you’re thinking, sadly, because, yes, you could use
a tan. No, this island is the Huxley one, as in Aldous Huxley, and I’ve not
read the “psychedelic novel” of the same name. I read “Brave New World” for
my high school English class (loved it even then, so much so that I read
ahead of our assigned chapters!), and I read “The Doors of Perception” also
in high school because of The Doors connection of course. That one baffled
me though. Still! “Island” is a miasma of lysergic ambient, with freaky
samples and field recordings serving as, ahem, islands of focus throughout
the sounds, although those islands of focus are all about LSD and religion
and evolution and all manner of strangeness. Günter Schlienz is a willing
and patient guide, allowing this trip to unfold and play out as shifts color
and shape within your brainpan. Then it becomes tranquil, and pools and
lakes and other various bodies of liquids and waters engulf you. This is all
just like an LSD trip, just like Aldous Huxley intended. Did Huxley foresee
this tape version of “Island”? Probably, on some shamanic spiritual
wandering through his own mind. How could he not? Edition of 50 “dubbed in
real time on high end decks” available from
Feathered Coyote
Records.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Finally realized after being a pipe dream for a few years, Günter
Schlienz presents Icelandic Tapes. With album thirty-something, Schlienz
literally explores new places: this is «journey music» in a literal sense.
Schlienz and his partner Hanno Braun actually recorded the piece in the
loneliness of Iceland’s high plateaus, nearby active volcanos and in the
midst of stony deserts – hence the title (no fraud!). Batteries,
synthesizers, cameras and good shoes were the main studio equipment trying
to capture the unknown emptiness of this dark, warm and bleak breathtaking
landscape in this most remote European country. Most of these sounds were
recorded in the open, so Icelandic Tapes takes you on a field trip into the
vastness of the north. Inside the black box of your mind, there's always
something beautiful to explore ~ hangover
central station
We can only add to this that being clinically addicted to Günter's music
it's virtually impossible not to enjoy such an inspiring journey. The bare
minimum of sounds present here gives the maximum result for imagination and
perfectly reflects the nature of the North. Not many colors needed to paint
a vivid landscape. Not many notes to form a melody. Sometimes silence
between them tells even more. Enjoy!
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1246
=============
Week 34
=============
TRISTAN MAGNETIQUE - 3 (cassette by Muzan Editions)
For his more experimental work, Günter Schlienz uses the name Tristan
Magnetique; come to think of, that name also has a slightly romantic touch.
His third release is called '3', following '1' (Vital Weekly
1143) and
'2' (Vital Weekly
1230).
According to the cover he still uses his Casio CZ101, and a few pedals, plus
some field recordings captured on a Dictaphone, in different places in
Stuttgart. I very much enjoyed his previous releases, as well as his other
work. Whereas the works he releases under his name is a bit too smooth for
me, verging towards new-age perhaps, I like the Tristan Magnetique music for
its gentle roughness. The music breezes, spaces, and yet there is that rough
edge of something not going according to plan, a mild distortion here and
there that has not been edited out, or tape-speed changing a bit, such as we
tumble into this release and the way we leave it. It all has a very organic
feel as if Tristan Magnetiques plays live; maybe he does, come to think of
it, with windows open, and we hear some voices from outside (or is that my
outside? I sometimes get confused with these things). The tape is short,
thirty-two minutes and consists of various, distinctly different parts but
it works well as one long flow; tracks have, as always, no titles and can be
short and doodle-like, or longer and worked out. I used auto-reverse for
quite some time on this lazy afternoon. (FdW)
––– Address:
https://muzaneditions.bandcamp.com/
http://cassettegods.blogspot.com/2020/10/tristan-magnetique-3-c32-muzan-editions.html
TRISTAN MAGNETIQUE “3” C32 (Muzan Editions)
Anybody else find it odd that Tristan Magnetique releases shrink in size
as the number of said release increases? The first TM jam was a triple
cassette on Otomatik Muziek, and I wrote about it
here.
For those of you keeping score, that’s release number: 1, tapes in
release: 3. For 2, on Cosmic Winnetou (again written about
here),
TM dropped a double cassette on us – so 2:2. Now we’re on 3, the
subject of these words, on Muzan Editions, and we’re down to 1 measly
cassette. Turn that into a chart and the line shoots up and to the right
at a direct 45-degree angle. What’s 4 gonna be, an unplayable
half-cassette released Auris Apothecary style (perhaps filled with
sand)?
I only point out this pattern as an observation, not a critique or a
criticism. Because if there’s one thing you can’t do to a Tristan
Magnetique release is criticize it! (I am, currently, critiquing it.)
Perhaps that’s because Tristan is the alter ego of ambient GENIUS (and
Cosmic Winnetou label head) Günter Schlienz, sometimes styled “Guenter,”
but don’t let that fool you – that’s just for people who don’t want to
deal with umlauts). We like Günter Schlienz around here, and by proxy
(and evidence), we like Tristan Magnetique too. The fact that he’s
finally paired with the equally GENIUS ambient label Muzan Editions
seems like a fait accompli, a match that was so destined from the outset
of the careers of each that the intersection is almost too banal to even
mention.
For 3, Schlienz pared down his gear list to include only a “Casio
CZ101 and a few effects pedals,” and with them he crafted another
ambient dreamworld populated by field recordings captured around his
hometown of Stuttgart. It’s certainly a psychedelic wonderland, the
hypnogogic tones and soft-focus palette make for an utterly immersive
experience, and that’s absolutely the point – you want these two
long-form pieces to simply overtake your worldview for a while, to cause
you to float in a half-awake state until the line between awake and not
awake completely blurs. It’s easier said than done, but with Günter
Schlienz at the helm, it’s easier done than said. And he does it, like,
all the time!
Also, Peter Taylor, aka MAbH, did the artwork for this tape, along with
two others in the batch.
https://muzaneditions.bandcamp.com/
--Ryan
The sun's radiant energy reflects from a softly moving
water surface. Small ripples providing perfect motion for a sparkling
spectacle of light. The wind picks up causing the surface to become rough
and steal serenity away for a moment. On the third release by Tristan
Magnetique, listeners are treated to sounds from a Casio CZ101 in the most
sublime fashion. A strange breeze of music noir ushering in and billowing
away these synthetic sagas. The heart of these sounds are like a lake or
inland body of water, an expansive aural dance of sonic radiance reflected
in mesmerizing splendor.
This is
composition is simply titled 3. Two selections divided almost equally in
over thirty minutes of melodies. Tristan Magnetique takes twisting notes and
weaves them together to form unique strength. With a wisely subtle command
of the keyboard, Tristan Magnetique is like a modern Virgil Fox. In today's
appreciation of music, listeners look for these releases to lead the
conscious away from cacophony of current civilization, not revive works of
Bach with a "Heavy Organ" concert. With the third installment of this
project, the path has become even more clear. The most palatable psychedelic
passages helping reposition current views of the world around us. Go ahead
and take the third dose, a little shorter in length from the first two, but
equally as soothing.
This is a Muzan
Editions out of Nara, Japan. Part of the summer batch, Tristan Magnetique 3
is sold out from the label. Not sure how tapes there are in a Muzan Editions
releases, but they all sell out in a short amount of time. Fortunately
Günter Schlienz has physical copies available on his
bandcamp page. You can also pick up a very recent
release titled
Orphée Aux Enfers that was put out on the Moon Glyph
label. Both compositions are beautiful and different.
Links
Muzan Editions -
bandcam
https://ninechainz.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Digital synths
don’t get a lot of love these days, but the Casio CZ-101 – the electronics
manufacturer’s first professional-grade synth – should conjure a lot of
nostalgia for those of us who grew up in the 1980s. I’m pretty sure I
banged out a few mediocre melodies on one when I was a kid. But this
dinosaur is aging himself. True synth wizards, such as
Günter Schlienz
(a.k.a., Tristan Magnetique and the head of the
Cosmic
Winnetou enterprise), have unlocked god-mode on the
instrument. An ambient music maestro who has achieved mastery over the
instrument keyboard’s eight voices is someone to be respected, and so is the
instrument itself.
Schleinz is certainly no slouch; his catalogue is lengthy. But his
work as Tristan Magnetique, in which he has limited his arsenal to only the
CZ-101, is quite beefy in and of itself. His first outing bearing this
particular brand was spread across a whopping three cassettes, while this
bad boy spans two spools. This is an auteur who understands what the
ambient music aficionado wants: a lot of music in lengthy passages to
support inner exploration and nocturnal meandering. And this is what
we have been given.
The pieces on 2 are nameless, but
they each span a side of a cassette. There are distinct movements, and
these seem to be bookmarked by interjections of field recordings. For
example, the A side begins with at least three or four interwoven voices
that take their time to lock onto each other before what sounds like a
skittering violin shatters the mystique at around the five-minute mark.
This then leads into the next passage of dreamlike drift, peppered with
chiming resonances.
If I were to be forced to describe this body
of music in a single word, that word would be “tranquil”. There is a
decidedly calm vibe present throughout, and it’s definitely refreshing.
One feels at ease, even when the sounds stray toward the alien and
synthetic. And while the emotional tone is placid, the music is also
nuanced and full of interesting ideas. 2 is the ambient genre
at its most effective.
There are still
copies left of this relaxed masterpiece over at the Cosmic Winnetou
Bandcamp, so stray in that direction to fulfill your
mind’s need for solace. And we all could use a little bit of solace
these days, am I right?
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1230
=============
Week 17
=============
TRISTAN MAGNETIQUE - 2 (two cassettes by Cosmic Winnetou)
The first release I heard from Tristan Magnetique was a triple cassette,
released by Otomatik Muziek (see Vital Weekly
1143)
and for reasons not explained, this is the nom de plume used by label boss
(here) Günter Schlienz. Under that name, he released some great albums of
moody modular synthesizer music in combination with field recordings and
perhaps the difference is (and thus the reason for adopting another guise?)
is that as Tristan Magnetique he uses a single keyboard, the Casio CZ101, "a
few pedals" and the four-track tape recorder. Maybe it is all a bit more
conceptual, but at the same time, it all works very well. There is a most
enjoyable crude edge to this music that I find very appealing. It is all bit
aimless doodling and tinkering away, but with some roughness that we don't
find in the work under the other banner. That is all very delicate and this
is all a bit rough, both in the way the pieces are composed and in the way
they are recorded. Sometimes there seems to be a strangely abrupt ending to
it all as the machine ran into some dirty bit of tape. It is music without
many aims or much direction, but that is the beauty of it, I think. I like
Schlienz' other work quite a bit, but the old noise-head that I am I have a
slight preference for the music of Tristan Magnetique, I think. The slightly
corroded drone music that has been left out in the rain for too long has
that bit of extra drone quality for me. Great stuff, once again and a full
hour of great music. (FdW)
http://www.tabsout.com/?p=24091
Tristan
Magnetique – 2
5.8.20 by
Ryan Masteller
Hey, we live in troubled times. Times that only seem to
get weirder the deeper we get into them. Times that absolutely defy us when
we say, “Welp, can’t get any worse!” Guess what these times have to say to
us when we mouth off like that? “They can, dude, and they will!” And they
have.
Ugh, crap, they sure have.
So what’s there to do about it? How do we feel better
about anything? How do we get ourselves out of bed in the morning to face a
new damn day when we know we’re just going to get force fed a worse piece of
information or encounter a more horrific experience than we did the day
before? I know for me there’s nothing like a hot cup of coffee and a jog
around the block to get me going. But that’s not for everyone. What IS for
everyone is this new Tristan Magnetique tape on
Cosmic
Winnetou, and you know it’s gotta be perfect because
“Magnetique” translates from the French to “magnetique,” which sounds like
“magnetic,” which is basically the term that connects any cassette-based
conversation. You’re obviously in good hands!
Another reason you’re in good hands: ol’ Tristan is
actually Günter Schlienz, purveyor of all things Cosmic Winnetou and
electronic ambient artist of some renown. This is his first TM release since
2018’s
triple-decker self-titled slab on Otomatik Muziek, a
cornucopia of unending sonic drift. (Well, it ended at some point, but it
was long after I had succumbed fully to its state of mind.) So even though
“2” is ONLY a double cassette, it stretches nicely past the hour mark. And I
need a bit more than an hour of Tristan Magnetique in my life to get me back
on track, get me into a more normal headspace.
So “2” twinkles like stars reflecting of a lake surface,
built from synthesizer drones and samples, centering all around that can
hear its tranquil tones to a place of sheer comfort. Didn’t I use the verb
“need” when referring to a tape like this? It’s such a calming presence, yet
packs enough mystery in its shimmering aura to keep the intrepid adventurer
happy. It’s also intimate and therapeutic, so you can pop this on while
you’re by yourself for a lengthy soothe, or, god forbid, you can use it when
you’re not feeling so hot for some curative vibes. Either way, you’ll be
better off once it’s over.
Limited to 70 hand-numbered copies from Cosmic Winnetou.
Get it!
--Ryan
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
tristan magnetique - 2
(cosmic
winnetou, 2020)
"tristan likes the limits of one single vintage keyboard combined
with a four track tape recorder. he says that the pedals are crucial,
and he likes to stare out of the window while playing his music. so much
to discover." synthesizer music to be played on your walkmen while
wandering through inner worlds. watch the steps while humming along." ~
cosmic
winnetou
A new offering of warm and soulful synth tunes from Cosmic Winnetou (we
highly recommend getting the whole batch), featuring new jams by Tristan
Magnetique whose synth drones and minimal textures are collaged here
with some field recordings, apparently found sounds from tapes or
TV/radio, building a hazy yet comforting vision of some distant
times/places, existing probably just in one's head and at the same time
in the infinite number of parallel universes. And who knows, are those
fruits of Tristan's imagination or they are visions of those worlds,
approaching through music, using it as a higher-dimensional portals...
And if Tristan is an imaginary persona too, then how many layers of
imagination we are dealing here with? And how many of them we can create
ourselves... One may wonder, of course ~ and this tape offers a best
soundtrack for that kind of activities.
https://lostseasound.blogspot.com/2021/02/tristan-magnetique-2.html
Tristan Magnetique - 2
-
February 22, 2021
Something
small becomes noticeable in the myriad of surrounding details. This is
how the music of Tristan Magnetique delivers it's ethereal weight.
Melodies with deep currents of emotion flowing within, but resting
above, the slowly turning autumn colored leaf floating on the surface is
the focal point. What tree did it fall from, how beautiful did a
collection of these leaves make the tree appear, has the journey been
long to arrive at this point? These questions could easily be about the
earth, fauna or even people. Slight changes in the qualifiers and then
the considerations follow the beauty before you beckoning thoughts.
For the
second Tristan Magnetique composition, the sounds have found home in
simple energy. A sea of notes sustained for mesmerizing lengths, always
absorbing the flare of crisp brilliance by the composer. The deep
undertow of bass like drone fills the body while Tristan Magnetique
crafts harmony for the conscious to follow. With over an hour of music
divided between four tracks, each selection has time to flourish as well
as dissolve. In many instances the path changes during the track,
turning each piece into it's own world. In the last track, field
recordings eventually come into aural focus, like crossing the street to
a new shop of sonic curiosities. All four tracks escape the heaviness of
night, even with the drone, this is not dream time music. These sounds
are a companion for exploring the world around us. A soundtrack for a
stroll in the heart of the day. For a place where the movement around us
is experienced in subtle doses, a light breeze causing a wavering
shadow, rain illuminated by sunlight changing the natural texture, a
fish coming to the water's surface to cause a circle of ripples...
Beautiful small details extracted while we are physically present, given
a moment of grandeur by the sounds of Tristan Magnetique.
Released on
Cosmic Winnetou within the sixteenth batch. This double cassette
offering by Tristan Magnetique is amazingly still available on the
Cosmic
Winnetou bandcamp page or directly from the
Cosmic
Winnetou website. Both the first and third Tristan
Magnetique compositions are sold out on
Otomatik Muziek and
Muzan Editions
respectively and it is surprising the second volume of work has not
followed the same path. It will...
Cosmic
Winnetou has moved onto the seventeenth batch and the three new releases
that make this (Cops
- Energy Trap,
Schweben
- Trees,
Snowflake Orchestra - s/t) have already sold out.
With exception, there are still a few copies of Snowflake Orchestra
(Joachim Henn and Günter Schlienz) available at both the Cosmic Winnetou
website and bandcamp page.
http://www.tabsout.com
Tristan
Magnetique – s/t
8.27.18 by
Ryan Masteller
That Günter
Schlienz has outdone himself this time…
ShhhhhhhhHHHHHHH!
What? Oh, we’re not talking about that? Is it a secret or something? I
mean, it says right on the
Otomatik
Muziek page that “Tristan Magnetique is the latest solo work of german
[sic] sound artist Günter Schlienz.” So – I guess I’m not really concerned
about dropping that bombshell on you guys. You can quit making that slashing
motion with your hand across your neck at any time, Mike Haley.
Whatever. It’s neither here nor there, really, if I refer to “the Artist”
as “Tristan” or “Günter,” because … just look at this thing! “Tristan
Magnetique” the release is really a sight to behold. A triple-cassette
album, each side housing a long-form ambient piece, packaged in one of those
old audiobook library shells. But yeah, as a listener you gotta take
Otomatik Muziek’s advice and be proactive, ignoring the New Age reactions
something like this could engender in the passive fan, instead allowing
yourself to dig deep into the microcosm of Tristan Magnetique’s soundworld.
The tonal and timbral shifts are exquisite as they gradually progress,
filling the ear and the heart with peaceful vibes.
And you need those peaceful vibes as you make your way through this
world, don’t you? It doesn’t matter whether you’re facing life with your own
name or you adopt a pseudonym as a personal shield to deflect enemy attack.
I kid, but boy, there are a lot of people in this world, and if you let them
get to you, you’re in for some maddening social torture, which is the worst
kind of torture, even worse than waterboarding or whatever they do on “Game
of Thrones” (I don’t own TVs or books). And even though you’re going to have
to play these Tristan Magnetique compositions through headphones, you can at
least do it with a smile on your face as you walk down the street or take
the subway or sit in traffic on the beltway on the way to work. Because you
have inner peace. And that reflects outward.
So pony up the euros (they don’t take deutschemarks anymore, I checked –
I had a suitcase full of them) to Otomatik Muziek and grip the latest
Schlie… uh, Magnetique before the edition of 40 sells out!
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1143
=============
Week 32
=============
TRISTAN MAGNETIQUE (3 cassettes by Otomatik Muziek)
So here's what I understood. Günter Schlienz is Tristan Magnetique and under
his own name he produced an excellent CD, 'Autumn' (see Vital Weekly
1056) with some excellent
moody synthesizer music played on a modular set-up. "As Tristan Magnetique,
Schlienz pays tribute to noise artists like Mike Pollard or Peter Friel, who
started „getting mellow“, as Günter puts it, around 10 years ago. Putting
the usual machines aside, Tristan took just a Casio CZ101, some basic effect
pedals and a 4-track recorder and bounced out this whole new persona",
writes his label. But listening to the six sides on these tapes (surely,
some ninety minutes of music,
altogether) I couldn't help but noticing that this sounded awfully similar
to the work he carried out under his own guise. Surely that stuff is taped
on a computer and this on a four-track cassette, but honestly I find the
differences very hard to notice between both monikers. That is, mind you, no
complaint. I liked 'Autumn' a lot, the follow-up 'Book Of Dreams' also (see
Vital Weekly
1093), even
when that one sounded a bit too sweet for my taste, and the pieces on these
three cassettes
seem to hark to a somewhat cruder approach, and 'crude' is a word that
should be used with great care here. In the work of Schlienz as somewhat
strange end to a track is a crude thing, or the allowance of some hiss while
recording; a bit of high end sound going on for a bit too long; that is
crude in the world of Schlienz. He usually deals with quite delicate
textures of on-going melodic lines, overtones and using delay and reverb
with some finesse in these pieces. It is textbook
ambient synthesizer music and I love it. I realize that I beyond the few
works I reviewed from him, I never heard much else, but I should surely
check out some of his other release. It seems to me pleasant music for any
time of the day, or night, and for all seasons. While reading a book on a
sun-soaked day, like today, or during some grey rainy day in autumn. I can
easily imagine that there are also people who would think this all too sweet
and easy and a fine album of noise and/or rhythm to follow this is indeed an
option to consider. (FdW)
––– Address:
https://otomatikmuziek.bandcamp.com/
http://lostseasound.blogspot.com/2018/10/tristan-magnetique-by-tristan-magnetique.html
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Tristan
Magnetique by Tristan Magnetique
Here is a box set of extremely high caliber meditative music
by Tristan Magnetique. If you are interested in finding physical
copies, apologies to be made at this instant. The forty copies
created sold out speedily. These were gone before Lost in a Sea
of Sound received a copy, so this description ratcheted down one
notch in the sense of urgency. But this composition should not
fall into obscurity, an important collection of works reflected
in the exquisiteness of the sounds within. A lengthy set,
roughly an hour and a half of recorded music, matched in
magnitude by sheer creativeness in diverse tranquility.
When thinking of the name of this set, Tristan Magnetique, the
first question asked is, who is this. Seems like a person, not a
project or band. This box set on the label Otomatik Muziek is
the first recorded works of Tristan. Maybe the label found
original cassettes in a thrift store or a music collection lost
over time. There is the story of the unknown artist Blind Joe
Death. One hundred copies on 78 RPM were made, some sent to
friends, music aficionados, others placed in record stores and
thrift shops. The man behind this was legendary guitarist John
Fahey. He created the fictional character Blind Joe Death and
caused a stir around interested circles. Tristan Magnetique
could be a similar story, just based in the world of ambient
music, not primitive guitar. Listen first and try not to read
too much. See if you can make a connection to modern artists
with sublime capabilities.
Three cassettes in total, all side long tracks, sounds flowing
with cohesion, maintaining allure with skilled variegation. You
can blast this descriptive oxymoron before it is even written,
"vintage new age throw back quality" of a Casio CZ101 interwoven
with field recordings. Tristan Magnetique channels past ambient
pioneers with a push towards spiritualism. Almost expect to hear
Sri Swami Sivananda recite "You are the architect of your own
fate. You are the master of your own destiny. You can do and
undo things. You sow an action and reap a tendency. You sow a
tendency and reap a habit. You sow a habit and reap your
character. You sow your character and reap your destiny.
Therefore, destiny is your own creation. You can undo it if you
like-destiny is a bundle of habits." Just thoughts from the
canvas Tristan Magnetique paints. There are moments when the
nostalgic ambient float is interrupted by field recordings.
Sometimes these are determinable, but other times these
interludes are other worldly. Woven with the Casio's melodic
timbre and with the length of the total composition, realities
exposure or some form of reality is like chapters in a book.
They do not correspond with consistent points in the three tape
set, they happen almost sporadically. These sounds are
beautifully simple yet exceptionally skilled. One of 2018's
ambient gems.
Released on the labels Otomatik Muziek together with Cosmic
Winnetou, both from Germany. Forty copies total, all sold out
quickly. There is still the digital and it is absolutely worth a
full listen. Also Be sure to keep an ear turned towards future
releases form Otomatik Muziek. Their ninth releases is the only
one still available in the physical, Nils Quak's heavy
experimental ambient tape titled Form
Phallus Function. Also soon to arrive Hardtack Oak's Cold
War Nostalgia, but can not locate a sound sample for this
release yet.
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1203
=============
Week 42
=============
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ - KNOW YOUR
NEW AGE (CD by Zoharum)
I very much enjoyed Schlienz' first release for Zoharum (Vital Weekly 1093) and
the follow-up was good, but I detected a
tendency towards new-age music, which in my book is not a particularly good
thing. The title of his third CD for this label (also available on LP) may poke
a bit fun with that new age notion but, on the other hand, there might also be
some directional shift. In the press text, comparisons are being drawn with
music from Peter-Michael Hamel, Deuter and Eberhard Schoener, all synth mongers
of the gentlest kind. The cover says 'this is music to heal your soul', so there
you go; it might not be tongue in cheek. Schlienz is of course at the control of
his modular synthesizer, adding a few field recordings capture on his"cassette
Dictaphone". As before, I find it quite difficult to separate the ambient from
the new age (not just with Schlienz’ music but in general), and yes, I realize
the question implied: why would you separate them? There are no good reasons for
that, obviously, but I like the music that I heard to be engaging and not just
soothing. It can be shooting, but not for the sake of it. Schlienz walks a very
fine line here. In these six pieces, he plays quite soothing music, calmly
meandering about. The new addition of an acoustic guitar and the humming added
to that feeling, and yet he also adds somewhat meaner frequencies (such as the
low end of 'More Beautiful'), but throughout it stays on a gentle side. I fell
asleep at one point, so perhaps that is a good sign? Probably it is in this
realm of music. (FdW)
––– Address:
http://www.zoharum.com
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
”Know Your New Age”, a third album by
Günter Schlienz released on Zoharum, is a great
treat both for devout followers of his work and also the
newbies. Starting with the shimmering of seawaves, it
takes you on a journey through the universe created by
one Mr. Schlienz. Inspired by the works of Peter-Michael
Hamel, Deuter and Eberhard Schoener, he has created 6
meditative composition clocking in at 52 minutes.
Schlienz merely takes cues from his masters to develop a
unique sound based on sonic structures built on his own
modular synthesizer interspersed with occasional
acoustic guitar accompaniment and subtle field
recordings. After organ studies, music for space
airports and musical interpretation of autumn, this
album would be best experienced meditating on the
seashore. Yes, ”Know Your New Age” lives up to its
title."
siempre me quedo sin palabras con la música de mi
querido Günter Schlienz. da igual todo, me siento
obligada a volver aquí y, aunque no me salga ni de lejos
una crítica que le haga justicia, no sé...que alguien le
haga un monumento, o que alguien encuentre las palabras
que yo no encuentro. en Zoharum dicen que este disco
está inspirado en la música de
Peter-Michael Hamel,
Deuter y
Eberhard Schoener (qué preciosidad sky music,
mountain music...), y que debería disfrutarse meditando
en la orilla del mar... y sí, me visualizo en una isla
desierta con la única compañía de 'lamb part II' (hay
viento, mucho viento) y de 'the prophet part I', donde
incorpora una guitarrilla acústica suave y delicada, y
olas, y ese sintetizador tan tan característico. Günter
siempre compone la música que más me gusta y necesito,
tan lleno de matices y elegante. y bueno, supongo que es
una obviedad decir que la música dice mucho de quien la
compone, pero en su caso lo siento con mucha fuerza.
precioso homenaje a la música que le gusta e inspira,
también: 'know your new age'. synth magician Günter
Schlienz.
https://www.versacrum.com/vs/
Gunter Schlienz: Know Your New Age
Gunter Schlienz è un musicista elettronico tedesco
di cui ho già parlato in passato a proposito dei suoi dischi
Autumn e
Book Of Dreams. Erede della nobile tradizione della musica Cosmica
tedesca degli anni ’70 e autore di una musica pacata e meditativa, Gunter
Schielnz continua a dimostrare di essere un artista integro. Ora esce un nuovo
lavoro – Know Your New Age – che si colloca nel solco di musicisti del
calibro di Peter Michael Hamel, Deuter ed Eberhard Schoner. La musica è composta
da un tappeto di synth intervallata da raffinate parti di chitarra acustica. In
effeti, lungo le 7 tracce da cui è composto questo Know Your Age, non
possono non venire in mente i nomi prima citati e, in particolare, il miglior
Deuter, quello di Aum e di qualche altra prova successiva. Onestamente
non siamo molto distanti, come filosofia, dalla new age ma qui siamo lontani da
certa vuota produzione che caratterizza questo genere. Se saprete predisporvi
con il giusto approccio, non potrete non lasciarvi trasportare dalla magia
insita in questi suoni. Le atmosfere sono pacate ma mai vuote e prive di
mordente. “The Prophet Part 1” ci introduce a questo viaggio esoterico con
sonorità ipnotiche. Il successivo “Lamb Part 1” è un brano molto efficace e
subliminale con l’organo in evidenza e voci eteree sullo sfondo. Dopo la breve
“Lamb Part 2” è la volta di “The Prophet Part 2” immerge l’ascoltatore in una
dimensione catartica dischiudendo il Velo di Maya della realtà. “More Beautiful”
ci conduce in una terra incantata forse la Terra di Mezzo inventata dal grande
Tolkien mentre “The Prophet Part Three” conclude il Viaggio verso l’Oriente
evocato da Hermanne Hesse in Siddharta. Imperdibile per chi segue
l’elettronica più raffinata e la migliore new age. Know Your Age esce
sia in vinile – in 300 copie – sia in cd – in 250 copie. Disponibile su
Bandcamp:
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/know-your-new-age.
https://toneshift.net/2019/11/18/two-new-excursions-on-cosmic-winnetou/
Two New Excursions on Cosmic Winnetou
By
TJ Norris
on
November 18, 2019
The title refers to the curve of harmonic motion,
Lissajous.
This latest effort from
Günter Schlienz
is the artist beginning a new phase as an innovative electronic artist capable
of incredible subtlety, with a twist of surprise. One just has to drop into the
drone float of phonoptomètre to see (hear) the light, so to speak. The
atmosphere is seemingly boundless, saturated in shallow pulsations and something
quite sublime, untouchable. It simply glides like a sailboat at 15 to 19 knots.
What emerges is an undefined dreamscape (or dreamstate,
depending) with just the hint of humanity by its inclusion of incidental field
recordings. And after a gloriously lush (albeit short) elegy (?) for tristan,
which sounds ceremonial, Schlienz adds a short film snippet sample of two women
talking abut an artist which leads into the passionate Famous Last Words.
It’s my favorite track here, soulful w/peculiar transmissions bathed in an
undulating aura. Again judging by the titles (plus, Mythos) there is some
sort of dedication going on here, but it doesn’t in any way come off morose or
overtly melancholy. Instead these lushly collaged works of synths and tapes
become a quasi natural pairing.
Things take a slight turn for the grey on wintermärchen,
however it’s not long for things to turn more towards a pastel palette. Another
standout here is surface noise, I only wish it were twenty and not two
minutes in length. It’s yet a tiny dose of atmospherics with a dialed in synth
that flexes amid some static flecks of microsound. It reminds me of staring into
the planetary abyss. Things are rounded out on held between both hands
and this is where we are left, that sense of the ‘between’ – neither here nor
there, but most definitely with a sense of distinctive ambient sonics. The album
feels like a stepping stone to me, as though this is a volume in time, and I
know just by taking in these forty-one minutes that there is a whole lot more to
this story.
Yet, I also do not read deeply into this work as something
particularly conceptual, rather it feels to be a soother for the nerves, in
common with the previously reviewed work by Navel. Except here Schlienz seems
far more capsulizing of both non/tangible sides of his impressions upon the
senses. This could easily be filed under ‘Music To Watch Starry Skies By’…
https://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-gunter-schlienz-spaces
Günter Schlienz - “Spaces”
By JasonC · May 31,
2018
Here we go, another ace cassette of tripped out, meditative synth voyages
courtesy of Günter Schlienz. “Spaces,” the first taste off of Liederbuch,
coming at you via Japan’s ever dank
Muzan Editions imprint, is one
for the heads and the newcomers alike. If you’re feeling like you need to pop a
cinnamon candy and mellow out, what better soundtrack could you ask for? Crazy
enough, but the cassettes are
already sold out
(JK there is a second batch now available), but you can snag on digital too!!!
People are buying what Muzan is selling, and when it’s this dope, can you blame
them? Stream “Spaces” now, and pick up the whole digital package today, so next
weekend can be a reel chill time, ya feel me? [Editor’s Note:
seriously, reach out and feel him]:
https://lostseasound.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 9, 2018
Back to back description for releases on Muzan Editions. This time from
the prolific Günter Schlienz. Like German Army, Günter has compositions
manifesting around the world and with equal selling ferocity. Another
similarity is the deviation in sound chosen for the Muzan Editions
edition. Liederbuch is exactly that, six songs playing like chapters in a
book. Varying diversity, both in style and tempo, but unfolding so fluently
together. These compositions are a complex menagerie of rhythms and tones.
Ever so slightly deranged, like the immediate confluence of two rivers,
unlike waters meeting and colliding only to produce a more grand
augmentation.
Six tracks crossing molecular space in just over forty minutes. Sounds
creating an analog path with firm ground underneath and copious sparkle
above. Günter Schlienz is well adept at creating this duality. A tranquil
placation of the spirit while the will-o'-wisp performs it's ritual. The
consciousness is pulled forth, but physical form has fused with temporal
existence. The last two tracks are most unique using vocals for each; The
basilic "Stauboper", with David Callahan's monastic timbre. Teresa Smolnik
with ethereal power on "Coda Forever". Both beautiful departures for this
eclectic wonder.
The final similarity to the Muzan Editions German Army release, Liederbuch
is sold out as well. The digital is ready for listening and there is
currently one copy for sale on
discogs.
If you want to get in front of Muzan Editions releases, check out and
pre-order the newest edition by Aidan
Baker titled Deer Park. Equally exceptional as well.
http://lostseasound.blogspot.com/
Monday, October 8, 2018
What is this.... A Günter Schlienz release that has not completely sold
old within a week! An edition of eighty CDRs released just a little over a
month ago. This time on the eccentric Was Ist Das? label from the heart of
the southwest, Phoenix, Arizona. A combination of artist and label fitting
together like German watch gears, silently spinning, a microcosm of sounds
now brought to audible levels. And as the title implies, Collage Tristes is
definitely filled with a myriad of rotating sound parts. It could be a
little melancholy, but only in a somber sense, there is only sadness if it
is already in your heart.
Two tracks, equally divided over forty five minutes. For Mr. Schlienz,
Collage Tristes seems to whirl in directions not taken in many of his
releases. A collection of magnificent melodies escaping all descriptions.
Like looking at time lapsed photo over countless evenings, showing the hues
of a setting sun. Both words and pictures struggle to convey the vibrancy of
emotion associated with the physical aspect of being "in the place". The
transcendent characteristic of this composition is the fine line these
sounds perch on. As example, near the end of program un, an old piano
radiates forth, the timbre releasing nostalgic sentiment from the
consciousness. Each listener's experience will be different, both happiness
and sadness present and intertwined in so many thoughts. Collage Tristes
pushes gently on the sentimentality we all possess, each transition in sound
creating contemplative pathways for all to follow. The entire album going to
the depths Günter Schlienz can fathom. The changing density of the medium is
the only difference with Collage Tristes.
Was Ist Das? still has a few copies of this CDR still available on their
bandcamp page.
Once there, be sure to go to the
website, so much love
and work for describing and promoting music in creative fashions.
https://acloserlisten.com/2017/09/11/guenter-schlienz-peace/
Guenter Schlienz ~ Peace
By
ukstratboy /
September
11, 2017 /
Ambient
/
Leave a comment
Pacified tones flow out of Peace. In the key of sweet love,
higher notes float on translucent, ever-calm waters. Occasionally, a soft,
undulating bass will accompany them, drawing near and walking beside them.
Peace is more than just an absence of war. It goes deeper than anything
else, save for love. Love and peace operate on the same parallels and
frequencies, sharing many of the same characteristics; both are warm and
all-embracing, sparkling with crimson and aquamarine, an inner radiance
which both flows and flowers outwards. Its intoxicating perfume gives hope
to this cruel, frosty world.
It scents everything you do in your life. It becomes more than a mere
state of mind as it ascends to and enters a spiritual plane of existence.
Peace isn’t mere contentment, nor is it always passive. In a world where
violence and revenge is often glamorised to the point where Hollywood rakes
in billions of dollars per year by selling it as entertainment, peace isn’t
always in the mainstream; passivity is not a bestseller.
Peace sells…but who’s buying? Sadly, war is a profitable business.
And so, after receiving a number of emails from friends that ended with
the word ‘Peace’, Schlienz began asking himself what the word really meant.
He began reading the impressionist travelogue, ‘The Colossus of Maroussi’,
by Henry Miller, which was written in 1939, when the world was on the brink
of another war. Basking in a pre-dawn stillness that would later be
shattered, 1939 was a year in which peace itself would be annihilated. And
yet, even in the catastrophic amphitheater of war, stories of love and
immense bravery abounded, claiming victory in the hearts of millions of
people. Peace rose from the ashes and vanquished the evil that had gripped
much of Europe. Peace isn’t just a state of mind: the old saying is that you
come to know peace.
You befriend it.
Perhaps, as Miller discovered in Greece, peace can be traced to a slowing
down of things, a differing of tempo and rhythm; certainly, in the physical
body, a slowing down of the heartbeat can result in feeling calmer and more
relaxed…but relaxation in and of itself is not entirely peace. Schlienz uses
modular synths, electronic organ and guitar as his weaponry, while tape
loops and analog and digital delays help in layering the music. The
tender, opening explorations of “Outer Corridors of Space” set off subtle
changes in the atmosphere. The cosmic loops in “Powdered Stars Lightning
Inaudible Noises” will soothe with its endless, calming repetitions, while
“Marble Light” drifts ever onwards, sleepily looping, a lovely thing. The
dulled, slower harmonies produce delayed reactions, like the softer glow of
sunlight in September.
The absence of drums is akin to the absence of gunfire, of artillery,
of bombs. No distortion = the death of rage.
Ambient music is more peaceful than metal – but why is this the
case? It may seem obvious, but the answer isn’t a simple one.
Guenter Schlienz is more interested in finding out the why.
Sometimes, though, there are no answers in life, and that’s fine…more than
fine. You don’t necessarily need to analyze something that brings so much
joy, freedom and bliss – just know that it’s here, free and unlimited.
Likewise, there are no restrictions in the form of ambient song, absent as
they are of pop music’s tight, often claustrophobic structures. A melody is
there as a slow pulse, but if you raise its heart rate, you automatically
diminish its sense of peace. Slowness is at the core of Peace, and
no more is this so than in the blissful closer, “Epidaurus”, a point at
which the music comes full circle. The music rests in open fields and amber
light. Yes, peace is being able to smile on, come what may. (James
Catchpole)
https://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-guenter-schlienz-peace
Guenter Schlienz
Peace
LISTEN
By
Ryan
Masteller · November 16, 2017
Golly, it’s been a couple months now since August 22, when
Guenter Schlienz released
Peace on Halifax’s Rural
Colors. On it he channels grand human emotions as he explores “themes of
tenderness, alienation and homecoming.” Utilizing his ever-present modular
synthesizers, Schlienz cascades sonic fractals out from his heart and into the
great unknown, the soundwaves intended to penetrate the collective human psyche
and adjust outlooks to “positive.” Let’s see how he did by checking the ol’
Facebook feed — wonder what happened throughout the world in the interim?
Hmm… not looking too good here… hurricanes, saber rattling at the highest
levels of leadership, overt racism, protests, counterprotests, sexual
harassment/assault, church shootings, trucks used as weapons… and that’s just in
the United States. Sorry to bum you out, gang, but this is Exhibit A as to why I
go months between FB scrolls. Head in the sand, I guess.
Guenter: it seems like you might have your work cut out for you. Changing
hearts isn’t easy, but Peace is as good a place to start as any, so
let’s broadcast it loud and clear.
http://lostseasound.blogspot.de/
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Really wanted to get to this composition by Günter Schlienz before it
sold out, but did not win the race. Did not even come close. Have listened
to a good amount of music by Günter, and so many times have been emotionally
called out. Like a locksmith for the consciousness, his melodies seem to
unlatch the peacefulness often covered by responsibility. Is it possible to
always be tasked and remain tranquil on the inside? There are individuals
with this skill, but mellow on the outside and relaxed inside are two
different things.
This compact disc titled Peace (maybe subconsciously started writing in this
frame, but actually just noticed the connection in the title and the words).
Either way, the end result is a much desired outcome. Eight tracks over the
course of a tad shy of an hour. Electronic manipulations gathering energy
from light. Peace takes the path just above the forest canopy. The beauty
from this listening point encompasses both natural aspects of life on Earth
and the vast expanse beyond. Tracks oscillate slightly to surprise with what
is below, almost reaching field recordings, then gaining altitude,
relinquishing the compacted effects of molecular pressure. Notes finding
neuron pathways to change microscopic aspects in each of us. Sound's effects
on sentient life is a very interesting topic, much more in depth than this
description can focus on. Seems like Günter Schlienz has a good amount of
research and development in this area already.
Peace was released by the Halifax, UK label Rural Colours. An edition of one
hundred cdrs that found homes almost immediately. Both
Tiny Mix Tapes and
A
Closer Listen had great words to say. Good chance this will be released
in some other format at a future date. No inside information here, just
intuition. There is one pricey copy on
discogs, if you want the physical. The digital is available from the
Rural Colours
bandcamp page. This would also be a good opportunity to explore Rural
Colours and keep the label on the radar. An excellent product from sound to
physical form. Small runs, with most being sold out.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
guenter schlienz ~ sterne über der stadt (πάνθεον,
2017)
«Dedicated to the barely visible stars above your home town.» ~
guenter schlienz
In the gleam light of night streets we always see the same. City
envelopes us, creating space inside itself, which is almost flat compared to
the actual world around. Sometimes it seems that we live inside a dome of
glass, like ones from sci-fi books about distant future in post-apocalyptic
world. We don't look at the sky, unless it's raining, we are losing the
feeling of vastness, of the universal endlessness, which surrounds our
little tiny home planet. Cosmos doesn't fit in coordinate system produced by
the rows of street lights. But still there are some dreamers, inspired by
the blinking stars above the never sleeping towns, bringing the melodies of
this elusive beauty, which hides between the city blocks, trembles over the
rivers and dissipates in roars of the streets... This exquisite album by our
favorite modular synth wizard Guenter Schlienz is a dreamlike journey over
the routine of life, perfect companion for late night walks and leisurely
stargazing.
cosmic winnetou主催でおなじみGünterさんがsacred
phrasesからリリース。カセットだと2本に分かれています。
これが朝に聴くと溶けてとろけてしまいそうな、めちゃくちゃ素敵なシンセなドローン。Günterさんの、どこかコズミックな色合いは、"soothing
sounds for baby"のコントラストをもっとモヤモヤとさせた感じもありつつ、カラフルなようで、統一感もあり。
ゆったりと流れていく、ゼリーのような音たちは、ひとつひとつに電子音が持つひんやりとした温度があって、でも深い森の草のようなにおいがしたり、あたたかい色が見えたり。ミニマルだからこそ際立つ、機材とGünterさんの一体感が、すごく感じられる。
すごくリラックスできて、すごく涼しい、やっぱりGünterさんの音はいいなあ。
投稿者
map_miyuki
時刻:
0:47
0
コメント
https://skug.at/neues-aus-dem-no-audience-underground/
Augenblicke & Evocations
Und wo wir gerade dabei sind, zeitgenössische kosmische Kuriere zu
besprechen, da darf der Stuttgarter Günter
Schlienz nicht fehlen. Man sollte nicht den Fehler machen, die Musik
von Schlienz unter einem Berg von Geschichte zu begraben. Der gelernte
Elektrotechniker weiß selbst, was er Edgar Froese, Joachim Roedelius und
anderen zu verdanken hat – seine eigene Musik wächst jedoch über die
historischen Vorbilder hinaus! Nicht zuletzt, weil Schlienz die
Disziplin aufbringt, nicht in süßlichen Arrangements kleben zu bleiben
(wie Roedelius hier und da) oder leicht angekokst in Richtung Stadion
Rock zu schielen (wie Froese ab 1980 oder so). Schlienz zieht
geduldig seine analogen Fäden aus dem Synthesizer und spinnt in aller Ruhe
in sich ruhende Klangteppiche, die so schön sind, wie der melancholische
Blick von Kris Kevin auf den Planeten Solaris. Zwei Veröffentlichung sind
in jüngster Zeit erschienen: »Evocations«
auf Makrame
Records (Spanien) und
»Augenblicke« auf Sacred
Phrases in den USA. Beide sind unbedingt empfohlen. (Holger Adam)A
http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=10067
Posted by
Andrea Piran
Sep 16 2017
Artist:
Günter Schlienz
(@)
Title: Book of Dreams
Format: CD
Label: Zoharum
(@)
Distributor: Alchembria
Rated:
A Jack Kerouac's citation introduces this
release: "the fact that everybody in the world dreams at night ties all
mankind tighter"; "Book of Dreams" is an expanded cd reissue of a vinyl
release and is based on a musical form that is based on modular synth and
this means that is something familiar to those accustomed to a musical flux
spanning from Kosmische Musik to new age. The quietness of the music which
should facilitate dreaming is obtained with simple and catchy melodies and
the absence of any dissonance, so it's something that requires considerable
writing skill to avoid trivial results.
When "Just Silhouettes" starts, the listener is introduced into a sound
field as synthetic but warm and organic even if there's any melody to follow
but it's something cradling someone so "The Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf"
sounds like a lullaby for heads in the clouds with his simple and hypnotic
melody. The droning tones of "Kafkaesque Speeches" hugs the listener while
"Mushrooming" is more experimental in his reminds of old sci-fi movies.
"Stillleben" is a quiet and static ambient tune. The two new tracks, "The
Girl with the Cloud Coloured Shirt" and "Diving into the Orange Pool", are a
gentle track for cello, the first one, and a minimal pop divertissement, the
second one. The hypnotic loops of "Two Big White Dogs" and the nostalgia of
"Awaken", closed by the sound of an alarm clock, closes this release with a
vague feeling of play again the play track.
While it could be the typical release that could be criticized by the fans
of avant-garde with the classification of new age, this is that kind of
release whose brilliance of writing let the listener enchanted. Practically
recommended to everyone.
https://nomelodymagazine.org/2017/08/07/gunter-schlienz-book-of-dreams/
Siluetas sonoras
Zoharum – Julio de 2017- ambient - ZOHAR 148-2
Günter Schlienz vuelve a amarrarse a la carrera
editorial de Zoharum
rescatando una de sus obras culmen, Book Of Dreams, un trabajo
parsimonioso y trémulo confeccionado a base de sintetizadores modulares.
Günter Schlienz moldea sonidos tejidos entre sueños. La
dinámica que este artista alemán plantea se encuentra cercana a la
música cósmica y al experimental más etéreo, gestando álbumes
que destacan por su inconsistencia melódica y su atractiva sonoridad. El que
hoy presentamos es uno de los más celebérrimos: Book Of Dreams.
Este trabajo fue publicado por primera vez durante 2016 en el
propio sello del artista Cosmic Winnetou, su lanzamiento se
limitó únicamente al formato vinilo y no tardó en agotarse. Un año más
tarde, la casa polaca Zoharum
amplia la posibilidad de adquisición relanzándolo en CD. Para ello se cambia
el diseño de portada y se le añaden “The Girl With The Cloud
Coloured Shirt” y “Diving Into The Orange Pool”
dos temas extras registrados durante este año.
Book Of Dreams se caracteriza por su talante parsimonioso y
placentero. Es un disco exento de sobresaltos y agitación, perfecto para
relajarse y meditar, repleto de tonalidades calurosas y dúctiles. Nueve
cortes lenes y frágiles que nos hacen sentirnos yacer sobre las nubes. Muy
recomendables para todo aquel que siga de cerca de Brian Eno
o Alio Die.
El álbum se plantea como un trabajo sólido que no admite fragmentación,
ya que en muchas ocasiones da la sensación de que los cortes se solapan en
un manto de sonido que se expande como la espuma del mar sobre la arena.
Entre los más apetitosos podemos destacar los momentos acústicos de “The
Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf” o “The Girl With The Cloud
Coloured Shirt”. Canciones en las que los únicos elementos
intervinientes son sintetizadores modulares que el propio artista
confecciona, obteniendo unos resultados fascinantes. Hablamos de puro y
absoluto experimental en el que las voces quedan hacinadas en el
ostracismo para dar importancia al matiz sonoro.
Zoharum ha decidido
prensar una tirada de nada menos que trescientos ejemplares a pesar le la
reciente publicación de la edición original, y no es para menos, ya que
Book Of Dreams se eleva como un genial ejemplo de experimentación
ambiental perfecto para disfrutar en silencio.
https://luxatenealibros.blogspot.de/
miércoles, septiembre 13, 2017
En el año 2016, el artista
alemán Günter Schlienz publicó el álbum “Book Of Dreams” a través de su
propio sello discográfico Cosmic Winnetou en una edición limitada de 100
unidades en vinilo de 180 gramos numerados a mano (75 en vinilo negro y
25 en vinilo rojo). Pero, el pasado mes de julio, el prestigioso sello
discográfico polaco ZOHARUM RECORDS presentó oficialmente el álbum “Book
Of Dreams” en formato digital y en CD en ecopak de tres paneles, edición
limitada de 250 unidades, incluyendo dos temas musicales como extras
respecto a la primera edición de 2016. Habiendo sido engalanada su
portada con un austero diseño creado por Rutger Zuydervelt
(Machinefabriek), es la decoración de sus paneles interiores los que han
recreado la atmósfera etérea del Reino de Morfeo, ya que cada una de las
nueve composiciones que vertebran el álbum “Book Of Dreams” está
inspirada en los sueños tenidos por el propio Günter Schlienz. Esos
primeros diez minutos de vigilia posteriores al periodo de sueño, han
resultado claves en la definición y en la recreación musical de cada uno
de estos temas, los cuales harán las delicias de los melómanos lectores
de Lux Atenea Webzine profundamente apasionados con la audición de
estilos como el ambient, ethereal, dark-ambient, minimal,
experimental... “Book Of Dreams” es el fruto musical de la mente de este
genial artista saliendo de ese periodo de somnoliencia donde lo racional
empieza de nuevo a activarse para la vida cotidiana, y donde las
imágenes, los recuerdos, la memoria, las impresiones, y el lado
emocional-sentimental bullen para dar vida a estas exquisitas y
elegantes composiciones musicales. Un universo sonoro que dará comienzo
con el tema “Just Silhouettes” donde la vibrante belleza de la música
ambient en un impactante primer plano, no hará más que embrujarnos para
que nuestra mente empiece a diluirse en la siguiente composición “The
Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf”, donde Günter Schlienz y Daryl Groetsch
hacen una demostración de virtuosismo instrumental que les dejará
impresionados. ¡¡¡“The Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf”, qué belleza
sonora!!! ¡¡¡Chapeau!!! Posteriormente, el excelso tema “Kafkaesque
Speeches” dará continuidad al enigmático magnetismo sonoro en el que nos
habíamos fundido mentalmente para que “Mushrooming” expanda nuestros
sentidos hasta perder la sensación de corporeidad. “Stillleben” es más
ambient, más new age, más reposado y sibarita en cuanto a su cuerpo
melódico y a su perfilamiento sonoro, como si fuera una visión de las
profundidades del mar iluminadas por los rayos solares, apareciendo el
tema “The Girl With The Cloud Coloured Shirt” musicalmente asertivo en
cuanto al estilo melódico cultivado por Günter Schlienz en este álbum,
prolongando esta quietud del espíritu hasta la composición “Diving Into
The Orange Pool” donde sus pinceladas instrumentales nos llevaran a un
estilo experimental que recrea con sumo talento el arrebol tintineante
de estas aguas. Con “Two Big White Dogs” sacándonos de ese estado de
profundo relax debido a su base sonora en tono grave, este entorno mucho
menos barroco nos acompañará hasta el ocaso final de este álbum donde el
tema ““Awaken” presenta un entorno más humano y menos etéreo, siendo el
sampler del sonido del despertador, una auténtica genialidad de este
músico y compositor alemán para hacernos volver al día a día. ¿Deseas
retornar al placer musical que acabas de perder? Entonces te invito a
una nueva audición de esta edición discográfica, y lo onírico volverá a
poseerte. “Book Of Dreams”, desde la ciudad alemana de Stuttgart, con
este grandioso álbum Günter Schlienz se ha convertido en el embajador
musical del Reino de Morfeo. ¡¡¡Disfrútenlo!!!
http://lostseasound.blogspot.de/2016/03/guenter-schlienz-book-of-dreams.html
https://criticalmassesmedia1.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/gunter-schlienz-book-of-dreams/
Günter Schlienz – Book of Dreams
March 7, 2016 · by
Ryan "Critical" Masteller · in
Crate-Digging,
Music.
·
(Cosmic
Winnetou,
2016)
I always thought it’d be a good idea to keep a notebook by my bedside to
keep a recording of dreams that I had upon awakening. That’s the only time
you can truly harness the madness of what your brain is processing while you
sleep. I never did it though – perhaps the prospect of actually making an
effort was too much. My brain would have to fire synapses to so many
places – to my arms and hands to turn on the light, to the language
center of the brain itself to compose the words, to the motor controls to
make those words letters – actually it’s pretty much just my hands and my
brain that need stimulation. That and my eyes since they’d need to open up
in the first place.
OK, so I never kept a “book of dreams,” as it were, but Stuttgart’s
Günter Schlienz has, and God bless him, because the results of his
experiment represent pretty much the epitome of what I’d want to accomplish.
See, he’s actually made it past the point of waking up and writing things
down – Schlienz has gone so far as to read his nonsense the next day,
interpret it, and translate it into a musical language that actually makes
sense for those of us lucky enough to hear it. What transpires on this
absolutely magical 12-inch truly is the stuff of dreams, where wisps of the
fantastical allow you to build entire worlds in your imagination. Schlienz
himself has described it best as inspired by “those strange moments … when
you can still remember the images and feelings of the dream before they are
rubbed off by daytime thoughts and troubles.”
He also says this is “modular synth stuff for inner explorations,” too
humble a statement if you ask me, but one that allows you to know exactly
what you’re about to immerse yourself in. And “immerse” is the best word
here, especially for so-called “inner explorations.” The tones and vibe wash
over you upon dropping the needle, and meditation is the only activity you
can participate in while listening. Perhaps no track would begin an album
like this better than “Just Silhouettes,” a low-key movenment that
highlights the impermanence of dreams and imagination as weightless
nothingness that disappears the second the mind turns to something else.
This sort of practice continues throughout side A.
Side B, then, begins with “Mushrooming,” a sort of beeping sci-fi ode
that pushes the mood of the album in a decidedly different direction. It’s a
nice diversion, and transitions into the “Stilleben” (“Still Life”), a
lullabye made exclusively to be listened to in reverence, potentially inside
the hallowed halls of Johanneskirche, or a similar Gothic-style church. “Two
Big White Dogs” is as playful as Schlienz is likely to get, as a wistful,
melodic synthesizer arpeggio scampers around the headphones space like the
titular animals. Then, as if to taunt us as his own alarm has taunted him,
Schlienz gives us “Awaken,” one minute of the sonic equivalent of realizing
there’s light streaming through the curtains in your half sleep, before an
alarm literally ends the track, the side, and the album. I want to go back
to sleep.
Consider this experiment a rousing success. Book of Dreams is
indeed dreamlike in all the best ways, offering a true peaceful experience
even in the midst of its more restive or exploratory passages. And the track
titles mostly give away that you’re not in the realm of reality: “The Female
Coffee Drinking Dwarf,” “Kafkaesque Speeches,” even “Two Big White Dogs” are
psychological markers that you’re not to take your surroundings as actual or
tangible. Therefore, sit down while you’re spinning this, and wear
headphones. These are important for the proper experience.
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1093
=============
Week 32
=============
After all this heaviness and darkness it is
time for some gentle music. Back in Vital Weekly 1056 I was very much
surprised and taken by the CD 'Autumn' by German modular synth player Günter
Schlienz, who now returns with a new album, 'Book Of Dreams', with more
pieces, nine in total. Parts of this was first released on vinyl, but now
expanded with more tracks. Zoharum calls this music at 'the intersection of
ambient and new age' and that is very much true. With the
previous release I was thinking about ambient in the finest tradition of
Brian Eno, and thus firmly rooted in the world of ambient music, but with
some of these pieces Schlienz moves a bit closer to the world of new age
music, which for all I know and care, is something he should not do. A piece
like 'The Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf' (a silly title I'd say) with it's
soft tinkling bell synth sound is simply too easy and too sweet for my
taste, but it is followed by ''Kafkaesque Speeches', a lovely dark drone
with a soaring synth melody on top. It is limping on both ends here, the
softer new age approach and the somewhat grittier ambient side, and for now,
I'd like to give Schlienz the benefit of doubt here. The music is still
lovely shimmering ambient, I am still reminded of De Muziekkamer and their
'Kamer Muziek' release, and that is enough for now. I am curious which road
Schlienz will take in the future. (FdW)
https://acloserlisten.com/2017/11/21/gunter-schlienz-book-of-dreams/
Günter Schlienz ~ Book of Dreams
By
postrockcafe /
November 21, 2017 /
Ambient /
Leave a comment
Write down your dreams before they slip away. The advice is
wise, for as soon as we awake, we begin to forget. By keeping a notepad
next to his bed, Günter Schlienz was able to begin writing
his Book of Dreams. The album preserves both dreams and
impressions of dreams, the titles merely fragments of memory. The music is
somnambulant, possessing the fleeting nature of clouds, as stylized on the
cover by Rutger Zuydervelt. But as phantasmagorical as the images may
become (“The Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf”), the music remains soothing,
suited for a nursery. By this we intuit that Schlienz has made friends with
his dreams ~ in fact has fallen in love with the liminal time between
sleeping and waking. And how could he not? Conjuring orange pools, white
dogs and lovely companions, his mind seems a place of endless creativity,
just what we might expect from such an inventive artist.
It’s amusing to think of someone drinking coffee during a dream, as
if dream coffee might help one to stay asleep. This ten minute track is
graced with the sound of twinkles and bells. One can imagine it on an
endless loop, gliding through the night. “Stilleben” rides glistening
waves of synthesizer across a seemingly endless sea. A siren sings a
lullaby, inviting the dreamer to dock on her shore, but again the script
is flipped; hers is a shore of safety. Only in “Mushrooming” do the
sounds grow disorienting, the result of radio fragments embedded in the
mix. But when music box tones take over, a sense of peace is restored.
Best of all is “The Girl With the Cloud Coloured Shirt”, whose gorgeous
strings imply love in the liminal realm. These dreams are worth holding
onto, perhaps even returning to, which is why they have been preserved
in such a fashion.
The album has only one down side: the final piece, “Awaken”, ends
with an alarm clock. The reverie is disturbed, the peace shattered.
Schlienz has created such a sweetly suspended atmosphere that it’s
painful to see it disappear so quickly. As accurate as it may be to
real-life experience, we prefer the beautiful stillness. (Richard
Allen)
http://lostseasound.blogspot.de/
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Absorbed into the Elysian sounds of Günter
Schlienz again. Where the margins of music, mind and consciousness begin
to become indistinct. Lush forms of constitutional electronics creating
massive aural landscapes. A en devour in sonic purity loosing any date
of origin. Book of Dreams was created in the vast continuum of
reincarnated existence. At some point recorded and now physically alive
for new listeners to experience. Seamless ambient drift at the very
highest level.
Lost in a Sea of Sound described Book of Dreams on the original vinyl
release, almost two years ago. The vinyl was a Cosmic Winnetou edition
and on a very limited run of one hundred, sellling out extremely fast.
You can read the first write up
here. The second edition on compact disc is equally as good if not
even better. Two additional tracks have been added and the entire
musical journey plays with ease and fluidity.
The compact disc edition was produced by Zoharum, an incredibly prolific
label based in Poland. They are also the co-publishers of Hard Art
magazine. Two hundred and fifty beautiful tri-panel vessels containing
the art designs of Machinefabriek's Rutger Zuydervelt, sound mastering
of Niko and of course the sonic creativity of Günter Schlienz.
Re-released in the middle of this year, there are copies available but
the number is getting low.
If you did not get the vinyl, the compact disc version is a must.
Possibly a strong consideration even if you have the vinyl. That good!
http://www.thesoundprojector.com/tag/electronic/
24/03/2018
Ed Pinsent
Stilleben
Noted Stuttgart musician and inventor Günter Schlienz in
2017 with his gorgeous Autumn album. All observations made then
continue to apply to today’s record Book Of Dreams (ZOHARUM
ZOHAR 148-2); it’s simply gorgeous electronic music and recommended to fans
of Eno’s Ambient composition or Popol Vuh. A genuine feeling of well-being
passes on to the listener. The tunes here were inspired by Schlienz’s own
dreams, which he recorded in a diary; it’s his attempt to capture in music
the “strange moments between fantasy and reality”. He takes the view that
the composition process is a “sober interpretation” of the wilder moments he
experiences in his dream life. Even the titles here contain some vivid
images, such as ‘The Female Coffee Drinking Dwarf’ or ‘Diving Into The
Orange Pool’, so we must assume that Schlienz’s imaginative facilities are
in a very healthy state. Book Of Dreams was originally issued on
vinyl by Cosmic Winnetou in a run of 100 copies; this Zoharum CD is a
repress with two extra tracks. While perhaps slow and samey in tone, the
simple melodies he plays are strong and enduring, and the use of major key
resolutions and chords is probably what accounts for the calming and
uplifting mood of this record. From 20th July 2017.
https://www.versacrum.com/vs/2017/08/gunter-schlienz-book-of-dreams.html
Recensioni
Gunter Schlienz: Book Of Dreams
di Caesar - (CD - Zoharum, 2017)
25 Agosto 2017
Gunter Schlienz è un artista di musica
elettronica tedesco che si pone a metà strada fra ambient e new age. Avevo
avuto modo di parlare in passato del suo pregevole album
Autumn: nel complesso si trattava di un buon lavoro in cui emergeva
il tocco raffinato di Schlienz. Schlienz è il tipico esempio di musicista
tedesco che ha fatto propria la lezione della Musica Cosmica tedesca, quella
per intenderci dei vari Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze e primi Popol Vuh il
cui influsso su tutta l’elettronica e l’ambient e la new age è decisivo.
Personalmente continuo a preferire i vecchi maestri rispetto all’evoluzione
successiva del genere che ha portato a certa new age. Schlienz in questo
senso non fa eccezione anche se la qualità della sua musica è lontana anni
luce dalla new age di consumo più dozzinale e da carta da parati. Questo
nuovo album, intitolato Book Of Dreams, eè però diverso rispetto al
precedente in quanto è composto da composizioni brevi e concise: tuttavia le
sue ambientazioni eteree riescono a creare un’atmosfera sospesa nel tempo.
La prima edizione di Book Of Dreams era uscita in un’edizione in
vinile limitata a 100 copie subito esaurite. La musica contenuta nel disco è
stata ispirata, per stessa ammissione dell’autore, dai suoi sogni: Schlienz
ha cercato di catturare le immagine oniriche attraverso l’emozione dei
suoni. Questa nuova versione di Book Of Dreams esce in un bel
digipack a 3 pannelli limitata a 250 copie. Disponibile su Bandcamp:
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-dreams.
http://freq.org.uk/reviews/gunter-schlienz-autumn/
6 November 2016
Günter Schlienz – Autumn
Zoharum
Occasionally known as Navel, whose Ambient
series of albums of last decade included Eno-referencing
titles such as Music For Spaceports, Günter
Schlienz has been making delicately shaded melodic drones and
curling electronica since the 1990s. His latest release comes courtesy of Zoharum,
and concerns itself with the theme of autumn.
the whole setting out to evoke the falling leaves and encroaching
darkness
The CD delivers three parts,
each named for one month, though intriguingly “September” comes between
“Oktober” and “November” in Schlienz’s season of electronica. While autumn
may be a time of mists and mellow fruitfulness, as Keats would
have it, for Schlienz it’s also a season of brushed cymbals and sudden
interjections of French horn (provided on “Oktober” by Niko
Lazarakopoulos and Matthias Baldauf respectively)
and all the sweeping grandeur that his array of self-built modular synths
can be coaxed into, the whole setting out to evoke the falling leaves and
encroaching darkness of this muted time of the year.
folds in melancholy waves into the vibrato and
rising swell
Intensely meditative, Autumn‘s slowness and stately marking of the
passage of time precedes through the long, heavyweight drones of “September”
and into the brighter flickers and bleeping wafts of “November”, where a
Theremin-like warble folds in melancholy waves into the vibrato and rising
swell of evocative pad sounds. Languid, reverberent basslines reflect the
gathering in to the fireside to evade the winter that is always around the
corner; perhaps the electronic voices hark to a Solstice chorale that marks
the midwinter and the proper descent into the chill and silencing snow of
the northern hemisphere too.
Autumn is almost the textbook definition of an ambient album —
long, evolving and intended to suffuse the listening environment as much as
it will equally reward being paid close attention to, should its audience
desire. As its final notes play out into a gathering haze of rain and storm
sounds (whether sampled or generated is not clear), it’s pleasant to reflect
on the album’s deeply satisfying conjuration of the atmosphere of the season
that is busy turning green to gold to brown outside right now; and that it
is equally a record to enjoy at any time of the year.
-Antron S Meister-
8.6.2016
=============
VITAL WEEKLY
=============
Number 1056
=============
Week 45
=============
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ - AUTUMN (CD by Zoharum)
A group that I have not heard of in quite some
time, and yet never forgot about is Navel. I remember back then, and I am
speaking here some sixteen or more years ago, I was quite a fan of their
ambient guitar sound and even released something on a short-lived CDR
enterprise. I must admit I didn't recognize the name Günter Schlienz as
being a member of that group; it all slipped my mind. I now learn he's also
active as a solo musician and a man who loves his synthesizers, and has a
bunch of cassette releases on his own label Cosmic Winnetou, but also
Metaphysical Circuits, Gift Tapes, SicSic, Goldtimers Tapes, Constellation
Tatsu, Makrame Records and others. I believe this is my first encounter with
his modular synthesizer music, and with an expertly chosen title for the
time of the year. Winter is coming and that means it is still Autumn, and so
the three pieces on this release are called 'Oktober', 'September' and
'November', in this order and I must say: this is an excellent release. It's
not something you haven't heard before in terms of modular synthesizer music
playing a strict ambient card, but Schlienz does it with great care. These
three pieces are long, sixteen to twenty-five minutes and on the surface it
seems they are not changing a lot, but upon closer listening they do. Very
minimally, but they do. The music he waves together is very slow and is like
a web of sounds; you can never over see the totality of these sounds but all
of them drop by in slow changing patterns and these patterns sound different
all the time. So while it doesn't seem to change, it actually does, some
sounds linger on, while others are added and subtracted. The sound is
overall very quiet and reminded me of the very ancient cassette by De
Muziekkamer, 'Kamermuziek' (sadly never released on CD!) as well as some of
the releases by the Midnight Circles label.
independent blog about postindustrial culture
Günter Schlienz - Autumn
November 10, 2016 by
darkroomrituals tagged
new age,
ambient,
electronic,
zoharum
records,
Günter
Schlienz
Zoharum ZOHAR 133-2, 2016
-
Oktober (25:32)
-
September (16:33)
-
November (17:32)
Немецкий музыкант Гюнтер Шлиенц известен тем, что
не только создает электронную музыку, но и сам конструирует синтезаторы и
прочее оборудование, с помощью которого регулярно пополняет свою
дискографию, отдавая предпочтение кассетным релизам – быть может, потому,
что столь тщательно культивируемое им аналоговое, олдскульное и чуточку
наивное звучание идеально ложится на приятный уху пленочный шум. Но новый
альбом Гюнтера вышел на компакт-диске, изданием которого занимался польский
лейбл «Zoharum». По названию альбома и по трек-листу понятно, что создатель
этой музыки посвятил часы и дни тому, чтобы с помощью звуков своих
рукотворных машин воссоздать меланхоличное осеннее настроение, точнее, ту
его «часть», которая ассоциируется с тихими прогулками по оранжевым,
шуршащим под ногами листьям, поэтичными медитациями на угасающую природу и
совсем немного связана с бросаемыми суровым ветром в лицо капель дождя и
первых, еще колючих крупиц снега. Почему первым идет «Oktober» – вопрос к
автору, но именно этот трек в полной мере передает авторский стиль Шлиенца.
Композиция словно разделена на две части: первая из них следует в русле
вновь популярного нью-эйджа из седых синтезаторных семидесятых, здесь
превалируют очень спокойные тона и никуда не спешащие тихие сигналы
электронного оборудования, дополненные минималистичными эффектами. Вот уж
реально идеальный трек для прогулок, когда в руки и проситься томик грустных
и красивых стихов. Вторая часть трека уходит больше в пасмурный дрон,
намекая, что в октябре темнеет рано, вечера становятся холодными и тени в
парке приобретают нисколько не пугающие, но странные, тем не менее
очертания. В финале эмоций добавляют с помощью раскатистых цимбал и совсем
уж потустороннего горна. «September» – это время спать, авитаминозная
сонливость заключена в бесконечной череде неясных, тихих звуков, попавших в
плен бесконечных пленочных петель, которые к концу композиции истираются в
пыль, оставляя после себя аморфное облако гудящего эха. А в «November» небо
спускается на землю: синтезаторы начинают звучать как небесные хоралы в
исполнении ангелов, генерируя еще и мелодии под стать этим певчим, гул
становится более прозрачным и тихим, и, хотя слух отлично различает, что все
три композиции альбома собраны, в общем-то, из примерно одних и тех же
элементов, именно эта композиция уходит за эмоциональные границы осени и
движется дальше, к постепенному угасанию в холодных руках зимы. Надеюсь,
Гюнтер насобирает своих чудо-машин на целый цикл «времена года», уж больно
душевная у него получается музыка, чистая, позитивная и искренняя в своей
простоте. Очень хороший альбом, и сейчас, в почти что снежном ноябре эти
осенние «картины-настроения» – самое то для правильной встречи осени и всего
то, что с ней связано.
http://www.darkentries.be/nl/recensies/gunter-schlienz-autumn/
Günter Schlienz
Autumn
Ambient - soundscape
Zoharum
19/11/2016, Henk Vereecken
Hij komt uit de Duitse experimentele underground, deze Günter Schlienz en
is al 25 jaar als muzikant actief, waarvan 20 jaar als lid van het ambient /
post-rock project Navel. Hij brengt ook solo analoge muziek
uit als Cosmic Winnetou en sinds 2010 ook talrijke ambient
releases onder zijn eigen naam. Maar bovenal staat hij bekend als een man
die zelf synthesizers construeert en ze ook bespeelt.
Zijn nieuwe album heet “Autumn” (60 minuten speelduur) en de titel van
het album en zijn drie tracks spreken voor zich. “Oktober”, “September” en
“November” zijn drie lange, instrumentale, herfstige soundscapes van
respectievelijk 25, 17 en 18 minuten. Ze klinken druilerig en mistroostig.
Drie zich langzaam ontwikkelende ambiente synthesizercomposities net als
traag neerdwarrelende bruine herfstbladeren. Het geheel doet wel wat denken
aan een minder melodieuze versie van Tor Lundvall of aan
een meer droney versie van de meest melancholische stukken van Brian
Eno of Kaus Schulze.
“Oktober” is de langste track en bestaat uit langgerekte synthesizertonen
en naar het einde toe gaan ze gieren als de wind tijdens een oktoberstorm.
De modulaire synthesizerklanken worden hier ondersteund door spaarzaam
aangewende hoornklanken en cymbalen (bespeeld door gastmuzikanten) wat hun
organische natuur onderstreept. “September” klinkt het meest droney van de
drie met ook gierende uithalen. “November” met zijn spooky, vibrerende
theremin-achtige klanken is mijn favoriet.
Buiten regent het, een miezerige, klamme herfstregen. Het regent al
dagen. Het asfalt glimt van de nattigheid en als ik dik tegen mijn zin met
de fiets het weer moet trotseren (om te gaan werken bijvoorbeeld) is het een
kunst om de plassen te ontwijken en niet te slippen in de bruine smurrie van
natte afgevallen bladeren. Ik zit nu binnen en heb voor het eerst de
verwarming aangezet. “Autumn” van Günter Schlienz past perfect bij de sfeer
en het jaargetijde en het weer buiten. Vrolijk word je er nochtans niet van.
En dan moet de winter nog beginnen....
“Autumn” kwam uit in een 3-panel ecopak in een strikt gelimiteerde editie
van 250 copies.
Henk Vereecken
19/11/2016
http://www.chaindlk.com/reviews/?id=9491
Artist:
Günter Schlienz
(@)
Title: Autumn
Format: CD
Label: Zoharum
(@)
Distributor: Alchembria
Rated:
The sense of this release is expressed by the
quote David Pearce in the cover of this release: i see the leaves fall, in
times of change; i see the trees fall, but i remain in the light of time,
with the dawn. Günter Schlienz, who plays synthesizers and uses tape
machines to construct his music, is that kind of artist whose music is
rooted in the tradition and could be described as modern classical if he had
used acoustic instruments as his music is evidently written playing an
instrument with a melody in mind.
The sparse notes of "Oktober" open this release introducing a track which
slowly unfolds exposing his layers one by one until they interact creating
something at the crossroad between a drone and a soundscape as it has the
apparent stasis of the first and the richness of details of the second until
the sound of the wind introduces the second movement of this track based on
sustained notes and cymbals. The sustained notes are the fundamental element
also of "September" whose melody develops really slowly generating a sense
of meditation and decadence until it fades under small noises at the edge of
audibility that closes the track. The resonances of "November" are used to
break the silence at the core of the first part of the track closed by the
emergence of the notes of the second part that, like a sort of theremin,
exposes a melody over a quiet drone in the background slowly ending in
silence.
This is a release that could be enjoyed in a quiet mood and it's almost
elusive in his evanescence. As an example of descriptive music, it captures
the essence of fall and decay of the season which is dedicated. A really
nice release able to change the mood of the listener.
http://www.raben-report.de/2016/12/29/guenter-schlienz-autumn/
Zoharum Records
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ – Autumn
Im einem einfach gehaltenen Ecopack erscheint das vorliegende Werk
von Günter Schlienz, der bereits seit vielen Jahren musikalisch aktiv
ist, wobei sich für die Gestaltung Rutger Zuydervelt von Machinefabriek
verantwortlich zeigt. Um es auch gleich vorwegzunehmen: "Autumn" ist ein
Album, welches meiner Meinung nach nur in gewissen Momenten fruchtet.
Ich meine damit Aspekte wie Ruhe, Entspannung und Träumen. Wer meint das
Werk mal so auf die Schnelle erkunden zu können, der wird sicherlich
nicht viel damit anfangen können, setzt doch der Musiker auf seiner
Publikation vielmehr auf Gefühl und Zeit, um da richtig eintauchen zu
können. Hervor kommt dabei ein ungemein angenehmer Charakter, beruhend
auf warmen Elementen, dank derer die drei Stücke aber eigentlich gar
nicht mal so lang erscheinen. Allein der Opener "Oktober" geht über
zwanzig Minuten, erscheint aber schon fast bündig mit dem folgenden
"September", wobei ich noch anmerken möchte, hier eine Publikation
vorliegen zu haben, die relativ in sich geschlossen ist. Denn auch
"November" passt sich da gut in das Gefüge, wenngleich jenes Stück etwas
unauffällig daherkommt.
Mit "Autumn" hat Günter Schlienz ein Werk erschaffen, das aufgrund
seines ungemein ruhigen Charakters einerseits gefühlvolle Welten öffnet,
anderseits aber vielleicht so manchem Rezipienten schon zu ruhig oder
vielleicht sogar langatmig scheint. Da hilft es am besten, wenn man sich
selbst ein Bild davon schafft, denn in mancher Hinsicht ist "Autumn" im
passenden Moment schon fast wie Balsam für die Haut.
Artikelbild Copyright: Zoharum Records
https://www.rssing.com
http://uchem1.rssing.com/chan-14827279/latest.php
GUNTER SCHLIENZ "Autumn"
Pierwsza z premier, to materiał nagrany przez Guntera Schlienz'a, postać
dobrze znaną na ambientowej i eksperymentalnej scenie, również w naszym
kraju. W ubiegłym roku rodzime Wounded Knife opublikowało split z Fischerle,
na którym znalazła się kompozycja tego konstruktora modularnych systemów. On
sam zaś, jako szef cenionej kasetowej oficyny Cosmic Winnetou, wydał
opisywane tu nagrania Micromelancolie. "Autumn",
materiał przygotowany dla Zoharum to analogowa suita oddająca wielobarwną
melancholię trzeciej pory roku.
Trylogia jesienna Schlienz'a to trzy długie, wysmakowane kompozycje,
skrojone z ciepłych, brzmień syntezatorów modularnych. Każda z nich,
zadedykowana innemu miesiącowi panującej obecnie pory roku, została oparta
na tym samym schemacie, przypominającym odjazd kamery filmowej. Początek to
detal. Szkic melodii, skupienie na brzmieniu i jego atłasowej fakturze.
Powolny, elegancki ruch rozszerza perspektywę nagrania. Pojawiają się
rozłożyste analogowe plamy, a główny wątek melodii zaczyna rozsiewać
pogłosy, które rezonują szerokimi pasażami współbrzmień. Arsenał
instrumentalny pozostaje bez zmian, nie licząc fragmentarycznego użycia
perkusji i waltorni, zatem rozwijanie się narracji jest zasługą dodawania
kolejnych śladów i wypiętrzania ich za pomocą analogowych efektów. Rezultat
jest niezwykle zmysłowy i kojący, bowiem Schlienz dokonuje swoich ingerencji
w sposób niebywale elegancki. Brak tu zarówno gwałtownych wydarzeń, skoków
dramaturgii, jak również epatowania mrokiem, szumem, czy dekonstrukcją.
"Autumn"to kwintesencja "slow music", wytwornie podana, liryczna i zmysłowa.
Uwodząca brzmieniem i emanująca melancholią. Z wolna gęstniejąca i opadająca
niczym jesienna mgła, której całun zaciera detale, tłumi kontrasty i
wprowadza oniryczną atmosferę.
http://www.thesoundprojector.com/2017/06/04/five-leaves-left/
04/06/2017
Five Leaves Left
Günter Schlienz from Stuttgart has evolved his own
electronic sound over many years through his own secret hand-built devices
and unique set-up, which involves modular synthesis, tape machines, and echo
units. As Günter Schlienz, he’s released over 20 albums since 2010, some of
them privately pressed as CDRs or as cassettes on his own Cosmic Winnetou
label. As Navel – described here as an “ambient post-rock project” – he goes
back even further, with a string of self-released CDRs from the late 1990s.
Today’s record is called Autumn (ZOHARUM
ZOHAR 133-2), and it’s a completely charming evocation of the seasons
rendered in timeless and very sweet electronic music. I couldn’t help
thinking of the Peter Schmidt watercolour painting that was included in
Eno’s Before And After Science, the one titled Look At
September, Look At October; the music seems a very good fit for that
evocative image of a tree seen outside the window, the leaves about to turn
brown. Schlienz’s music is not far apart from Eno’s, but it must be said his
hand-crafted inventing has really reaped dividends, and he has successfully
side-stepped the problem of pre-sets and factory settings that has blighted
many a lesser synth keyboard player. Autumn doesn’t sound
particularly “weird” though, and I suspect Schlienz doesn’t see himself as a
pioneer of unusual sounds or a cosmic explorer trying to wring hidden depths
from the innards of electronic machinery. Rather, he simply has his stories
to tell in musical form, and wants to find his own way of saying them. An
album of slow and intriguing beauty…while not quite as spiritually deep as
Popol Vuh, Schlienz’s heart is in the right place, and with his benign and
optimistic outlook on the world, he makes Tangerine Dream seem positively
turbulent and apocalyptic in comparison. From 27th October 2016.
http://africanpaper.com/2017/10/14/gunther-schlientz-autumn/
GÜNTHER SCHLIENTZ: Autumn
Veröffentlicht am
14.
Oktober 2017 von
admin
Der Herbst gilt als Zeit der Einkehr und Kontemplation und hat wie alle
Jahreszeiten bereits zahllose Würdigungen in der Musik erfahren. Die
Facetten seiner Stimmungen und seiner Sinnlichkeit geben aber immer noch
Stoff für neue, zum Teil ungewöhnliche Ideen ab, auch wenn ein Konzeptalbum
zum Herbst auf den ersten Blick vielleicht etwas abgedroschen anmuten mag.
Die hier vorliegende, von Rudger Zuydervelt in dezentem Minimalismus
gestaltete CD stammt von einem schon lange aktiven, aber für breite
Hörerkreise wohl immer noch obskuren deutschen Klangkünstler namens Günther
Schlientz, der auch als Cosmic Winnetou aktiv ist und neben seinen
Soloarbeiten in der Postrock-Band Navel spielt. Schlientz arbeitet primär
und auch hier mit diversen selbstgebauten analogen Synthesizern und ergänzt
dieses Grundinstrumentarium durch traditionelle Instrumente wie einen Satz
rauschender Becken und ein französisches Flügelhorn, deren dezenter Einsatz
sich wunderbar in ddn elektronischen Rahmen einfügt.
Schlienz zeichnet den Herbst hier als ruhige, zurückgenommene Zeit der
Wandels und gibt ihm (man könnte sagen dem elektronischen Schwerpunkt seiner
Musik zum Trotz) ein organisches, erdig naturverbundenes Äußeres. Im
eröffnenden Track “Oktober” erscheint der harmonische Klang derart
organisch, dass man Gitarrenpicking und Bassdröhnen vermutend könnte,
zusammen mit den Bläserklängen schafft dies eine warme, aber auch
vielfarbige Welt, die durchaus so etwas wie Fülle zeigt, und doch
durchdringt eine leise Melancholie das vitale Landschaftsbild, das erst
durch Feebkackfiepen einen Hauch von echtem Niedergang bekommt.
Warum die Zeitdarstellung nicht der Folge der Monate entspricht,
erschließt ich mir nicht, eventuell wurden auf dem Cover tatsächlich die
Titel vertauscht, jedenfalls folgt auf das lange, belebte “Oktober” das
wensentlich herbere “September”, durch das ein kühler, an Thereminklänge
erinnernder Wind weht. Auch hier sind ein paar erdigere Klänge zu hören,
doch das wellenförmige Dröhnen erscheint in erster Linie düster und fast
etwas bedrohlich, lediglich eine paar leise tremolierende Hochtöner bringen
auf geheimnisvolle Art etwas Licht ins Dunkel der kurzen Tage. All dem liegt
ein steter Wandel der Harmonien und Klangfarben zugrunde, der langsam aber
zielgerichtet ins zunächst recht disharmonische “November” überleitet, das
in seiner anfänglichen Statik schon fast winterliche Züge annimmt. Doch das
Stück erreicht erst mit der Zeit seine eigene Ordnung und entpuppt ich als
rührendes Szenario, bei dem kühle Retro-Elektronik auf anrührende
Bläsemelodien stößt.
Schlientz zeichnet ein dezentes, fast introvertiertes Bild des Herbstes,
dessen intime Stimmung sich wahrscheinlich nur aufmerksamen Hörern
offenbart, denn das warme Klangbild hat auch eine leicht spröde Seite, die
dafür sorgt, dass sich die Musik nie aufdrängt oder gar in trübseligen
Kitsch ausartet. (A. Kaudaht)
Label: Zoharum
Dieser Eintrag wurde veröffentlicht in
Reviews und
verschlagwortet mit
Cosmic Winnetou,
Günter Schlientz, Navel,
Rutger Zuydervelt,
Zoharum von
admin.
Permanenter Link zum Eintrag.
https://www.versacrum.com/vs/2017/02/gunter-schlienz-autumn.html
Recensioni
Günter Schlienz: Autumn
di Caesar - (CD - Zoharum, 2016)
17 Febbraio 2017
La Germania, in ambito musicale, è storicamente la patria della
sperimentazione, dell’avanguardia e della musica elettronica: compositori
come Karl Heinz Stockhausen hanno fatto scuola influenzando generazioni di
musicisti successivi. L’esempio più clamoroso è stato quello della
cosiddetta Musica Cosmica nei ’70 i cui esponenti principali erano Klaus
Schulze e i Tangerine Dream. Nomi come quelli citati sono poi stati
fondamentali per lo sviluppo di tutta la musica elettronica successiva e
hanno precorso la new age, l’ambient e il dark-ambient.
Il nuovo lavoro del tedesco Günter Schlienz – pubblicato dalla Zoharum –
è un altro esempio di come gli echi dei Corrieri Cosmici continuino a vivere
anche ai giorni nostri. Il disco, intitolato Autumn è un esempio
della sua musica pacata e profonda per sintetizzatori ed è ispirato, come si
può intuire, dalle atmosfere brumose della stagione autunnale. E, in
effetti, le lente evoluzioni circolari su cui si basa questa musica riescono
realmente ad evocare un senso di tristezza e di malinconia senza tempo che
ben si addicono all’autunno. Le ambientazioni sono crepuscolari e tendono
all’immobilità generando un senso di calma assoluta: sembra realmente di
trovarsi in un parco deserto circondati da alberi spogli mentre cadono
foglie morte e marroni. Günter Schlienz proviene dall’underground
sperimentale tedesco ed è un musicista attivo da oltre 25 anni. In
passato ha fatto parte del progetto ambient/post/rock denominato Navel oltre
ad essere anche un costruttore di sintetizzatori suonati da lui stesso.
Consigliato caldamente agli amanti del dark-ambient in stile Alio Die e
Vidna Obmana. Autumn esce in un’elegante versione in 3-panel ecopak
strettamente limitata a 250 copie. Disponibile su Bandcamp:
https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/album/autumn.
Saturday, August 01, 2015
"tracks recorded live with modular
synthesizer, tape loops and tapes. thanks to josh for
support and mastering. kudos to all those wonderful
people who made those gigs possible, and many
thanks to all who came to listen."Günter
Schlienz
"really love the new Guenter
Schlienz tape. really thankful we were able to release
this on tomentosa sub label Branch Tape.
tomentosa
quería que la música hablase por
sí sola, pero al final he caído... Günter, el ser con
más luz de todo el universo calm in trees, siempre hace
milagros. me da hasta apuro decir nada, pero de verdad
es imposible no decir ni pío. nada ha cambiado, o sí,
tal vez por ser un directo (en polonia, en alemania, o
en medio de la nada), tal vez porque fueron noches
mágicas, desde 'through the music to the self' no me
emocionaba tanto una cinta. destacaría tantos momentos,
pero: 'cara a', minuto 8:50. 'cara b', a partir del
minuto 8:48. voces, retransmisiones, un escalofrío, una
melodía antigua (un loop recortado de una ópera de
Bernstein, el mismo que suena en
'presentation one - found sounds, modular synthesizer
and tape loops',
debilidad de Günter que suele utilizar en todos sus
conciertos), un sónar lejano que emite vibraciones bajo
el agua y acompaña a su electrónica melancólica,
enlazando finalmente con 'tape studies', 'chapter IV' y
'swim trunks''...el cielo ('and voilà, some magic
happened'). y los pajaritos de la portada
revoloteando sobre todo el disco. del todo
indescriptible. muy fuerte haber presenciado eso. tengo
la sensación de que el formato cinta, o cualquier otro
formato, se queda pequeño ante esto...Günter en directo
lo desborda todo. sorprendente, enigmático, innovador,
genio. el dicho "nada malo puede ocurrir dentro de una
canción de Günter Schlienz" cobra todo el sentido: tiene
una sensibilidad y una dulzura fuera de lo común y sus
canciones de estructura frágil avanzan tan suavemente
que parece que se vayan a romper de un momento a otro.
también entiendo estas
palabras
de Norm Chambers: "stoked about this new live Guenter
tape". además es de las poquitas cintas que ha elegido
Branches Tapes para su mini catálogo ascendente, un sub
sello de Tomentosa que parece creado casi para la
ocasión (pocas cosas me harían más feliz que tener un
sello y editar sólo cintas de Bill Doob, Josh Burke, Mia
Prce y él).
...llegar a casa y abrir el paquetito con esta
preciosidad es lo más cercano a la felicidad. gracias de
corazón a Günter y Josh por este regalo. con permiso de
'blaue stunde' de skomsvold & schlienz (ay, palabras
mayores), dang olsen dream tape, +you, miaux, inner
travels, wave temples, x.y.r., tropical rock, charles
cohen, tuluum shimmering, visible cloaks, naran ratan,
oliwa, les halles, head chameleon, isam: blue communion,
black eagle child (pío pío) y una lista infinitamente
infinita... ya tengo mi disco del año
(:
Thursday, November 20, 2014
"following a series of highly acclaimed releases on Gift Tapes, SicSic and
his own Cosmic Winnetou label, among others, mood-modular maestro
Guenter
Schlienz presents a collection of works
utilising tape loops and acoustic instruments as well as his familiar
modular undulations. It is a rich combination that takes
Guenter's sound off
through music halls, into the clouds and then back again to the self. this
is deeply focussed and reflective work that rounds off this series of 10
s.i.n.k. cds releases in perfect stye. study hard, loop soft."
s.i.n.k.s. cds
"Guenter Schlienz is an ambient genius"
Matt Kattman
(The
Rainbow Body)
...mil veces sí.
04 июня 2014
Günter Schlienz
Treehut Visions
Sacred Phrases, 2014
For several
years already Sacred Phrases
are one of my favorite labels, and with every new cassette it keeps this status.
Take at least the most recent releases: wonderful audio-world of
Enumclaw, fascinating and unusual record by Christophe
Bailleau and
Venn Rain that brings right mood everytime you listen to
it... A few days ago there were released two new tapes by Strom Noir (we
had him here
few
times
already) and Yamaoka - another confirmation of the fact that music has no
borders, especially political. But I'd like to draw special attention of all
ambient lovers to the new album by Günter Schlienz, true master (I am not afraid
of loud statements in this case) of its craft. His music emerges somewhere at
the boundaries of academic minimalism, right there where simple sine waves and
pulsations are becoming to sound pleasant for human ear. There, where Terry
Riley paved autobahns of sequences and made fractals of mutating sound loops,
Günter turns out to be "even more minimalist", if I may say so, and treads only
small footpaths, barely visible in the dense thickets of spring grass. Those
footpaths quickly take us away from the bustle and clutter, to serene breath of
meadows, swinging of field grass and bees buzzing over the flowers blooming
towards the sun...
It's amazing how fast this music makes you forget about the criteria of form,
composition, and the other of boredom, with which critics and music lovers are
filling their heads. This album is about something personal, about childhood
memories and dreams, but in the same time it doesn't oblige to anything.
Generally, obligation is absolutely unwanted property in ambient music. What
such music supposed to do is to inspire. This undoubtedly masterpiece album
inspires not only to contemplation and creativity (it goes without saying), but
also gives an opportunity to feel something really beautiful. I don't want to
discuss what is beauty and how it manifested for different people with different
taste, because in this case it emerges in very unobvious, intuitive way. From
the perspective of physics it is only a set of sine waves and small portions of
quiet white noise, augmented with imitation of bird voices and insects from
analog synthesizers. But from such point everything loses its beauty and turns
into columns of numbers. Anyway, everyone has a sense of beauty, and can
intuitively feel the harmony there, where it comes from simplicity. There is no
need in complicated formulas to understand what is dream, to realize what is
soul, to feel love. It is always close, no matter how dense are cocoons of
negative around us. In the memories about childhood games and fantasies , in the
noise of the waves on the seashore, in the ornaments of clouds and in leaves
veinlets... But, primarily - somewhere in the deep of silence.
Truly wonderful, infinitely fluid, rich with ornaments, flares and slight
transitions music of Treehut Visions sounds like a creek water. Easily escaping
from hands and rapidly flowing through rocks, sand and soil. Refreshing touches
of beauty.
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/cerberus/guenter-schlienz-treehut-visions
Guenter Schlienz
Treehut Visions [CS; Sacred Phrases]
By Jspicer on Jul 2
2014
What do we really know about Deutschland? Our glimpses of the post-WWII
Germany have been whittled into brief textbook talking points and history as
reenacted by popular Scorpions songs and conceptual Kraftwerk videos. Guenter
Schlienz turns the looking glass onto America, providing more a mirror onto the
impact of American culture on Germany as well as a glimpse into the nation as it
stands creatively today. Treehut Visions is childhood innocence, a
younger Schlienz holed up between hefty branches as he scours the beatnik prose
of Kerouac. An idyllic soundtrack removed from the hectic picture of beats on
the prowl to find America at its most ruthless, Treehut Visions is a soft
reminder that the last 70 years of American history have been far from kind to
any outsider to grace the so-called Melting Pot. None of that really matters
because Schlienz retreats to the visions of Kerouac and kids as a means to tell
the real story. For all the violence and stalemate of two nations sprouting in
two distinct trajectories, those differences are where we can learn about each
other and not fear the unknown. There are still those clinging to the words of
the beats and the actions of the Merry Pranksters as a blueprint for saving our
souls, as well as those who saw the future in komische and Kraftwerk. Schlienz
puts them both together in a definitive and soothing statement: “It’s all going
to work out in the end.”
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
"may the complex rhythms, supported by its troughs and troches, mend what
you’re missing. It gives another half of what you need. gently, breezy,
slightly elevated, languid, nonchalant, with you. for you.
recorded Spring 2013 in Stuttgart/Germany with a DIY modular synthesizer.
mastered by Niko. inspired by childhood memories and Jack Kerouac's
"Visions" novels.
"the world of raging action and folly and also of gentle sweetness seen
through the keyhole of my eye."
sacred phrases
ahora ya es como si nos hubiéramos acostumbrado, pero lo que hace Günter
Schlienz de verdad que es de otro mundo. 'treehut visions' roza la
delicadeza de 'through the music to the self' y añade algunas grabaciones de
campo como en 'the norman tapes'. pero es sólo una ínfima parte de todo lo
bonito que hay en él. pajaritos, mareas, sintetizador modular, unas campanas
lejanas y nunca una nota más alta que la otra. la sutilidad. a veces pienso
que si no hubiera surgido microphones gracias a la emoción que supuso
aquella explosión de free folk ('golden apples of the sun' y Jewelled Antler
siempre siempre), seguramente unos años más tarde 'tape studies' y 'through
the music to the self' me hubieran inspirado para crearlo. y hoy 'treehut
visions' con su preciosa mezcla de hojas verdes y marrones. se podrán
recordar muchos discos, pero pocos son tan especiales y emanan tanta
belleza. es como cuando ves la portada verde acuosa de 'science of the sea'
de Jürgen Müller, o la portada verde musgo de 'secondary efflorescence', o
el astrónomo observador de 'many moons'...o la azul cielo de 'on sea-faring
isolation' de los delfines y no puedes pasar de largo. los compararías mil
veces y los escucharías otras mil. te obligan a quedarte ahí, deshaciendo el
ovillo de nombres que aunque sea sólo de refilón te recuerdan a ese sonido:
la electrónica analógica que siempre habíamos soñado y de la que habíamos
estado muy cerca. puro magnetismo.
Günter es ya una leyenda a pequeña escala, la eterna referencia del
renacer de los teclados modulares. hay muchos favoritos (Panabrite, Pulse
Emitter, Lieven Moana, Paul Skomsvold) pero él pone algo más, no se sabe
qué. los sintes artesanos al aire libre y en contacto con la naturaleza que
siempre parecerán theremines o el canto de una sirena...sonidos ululantes
que parecen salidos de un sueño y que más que sonar es como si te hablaran.
'the meadow at summernights' es tan bonita, y 'games at the creek', y el
'pastel de domingo por la mañana'. pero sobre todo los treinta minutos limbo
de 'treehut vision': electrónica algodonosa de cambios sutiles y esa
sensación de transparencia, de intimidad, de suspensión en el tiempo. una
miniatura de estructura circular, un simple apunte melódico sin principio ni
final. Günter Schlienz es un
estilista que todo lo que toca lo impregna de un barniz delicado, pulido,
que no resta ni un ápice de emoción. al contrario. sus mágicas habilidades a
la hora de construir ritmos en suspensión, frecuencias, vibraciones y
nebulosas de melodía, de la belleza en general y el minimalismo en
particular, han evolucionado cinta tras cinta, probablemente a la misma
velocidad que los sintes modulares hechos a mano y con mimo de su
casa-taller. sólo puedo hacer mías y suyas estas palabras de more
felationship acerca de un disco cualquiera: "escucharlo parece una tarea
para arqueólogos: es como ir descubriendo sus finísimas capas, pincel en
mano, con miedo a no romper nada." devoción y amor eterno. ¿y la guinda? que
la magia continuará en 'contemplation',
su inminente disco en preservation. ya sólo leyendo los títulos, que parecen
descifrar su personalidad o al menos lo que a mí me transmite, sé que
volverá a ser un regalo.
la otra guinda: nuevo disco de x.r.y. en constellation tatsu. muy muy
feliz. pero hay una tercera guinda, y es 'autumnal hum' de Bird People.
ahora mismo me parece casi imposible que este año se componga algo más
bonito y bucle, en el sentido mantra del término, que 'blodeuwedd's night
song' y 'the looming mountain is a wide-awake body'.
https://www.factmag.com/2014/12/03/the-20-best-cassettes-of-2014/
Page 9 of 21
13. GUENTER SCHLIENZ
Treehut Visions
(Sacred Phrases)
The great-synth-jammer-burnout of 2011 did a great job to separate the really
great stuff from all the nice-enough-but-don’t-really-need-it jams. Anyway,
Guenter Schlinz definitely falls in the former category, and the hour-long
Treehut Visions will likely scratch whatever nu-age synth itch one might
have in 2014. His music is deceiving in that it sounds very simple on first
listen, but the more one gets drawn in, the more obvious it becomes that Schlinz
is truly onto something beautiful and cathartic. The 30-minute title track is
one of my favorite long-form compositions I’ve heard all year. Brad Rose
Monday, October 27, 2014
günter schlienz ~ contemplation (preservation, 2014)
"for a decade, Schlienz has
created meditative works of epic reach with intimate, reflective resonance.
his individual style comes from an ever-searching sense of experimentalism
that stems not only from his sense of composition but his creation of his
own modular synthesisers and other instruments. 'contemplation' is
Schlienz’s most personal yet, acting as a compendium that ties the various
strands of his musical pursuits together in a new and fresh vision. in a
way, 'contemplation' is a record of how he has developed as an artist and as
himself.
while the cosmic touch is ever present, earthy and pastoral scenes are
never far from
Schlienz’s
gaze. Norm Chambers ~ aka
Panabrite and a kindred spirit
~ contributes to the swelling, soaring 'humble',
'numb' is bubbling and bucolic in feel and 'shimmer' is a soft, sweet paen
to the evening. reaching further, 'lament' is a majestic drone, raga-like in
its deep focus, and 'janitor' is a final hazy delight of floating tones and
starry dub-like echoes. ultimately, 'contemplation' is in equal thrall to
joy, melancholy, nature and space. it’s a radiant poise Schlienz holds
throughout, finding a peaceful plane."
preservation
sé que ya poco queda por decir de Günter Schlienz, y que demasiado a
menudo me sale por la boca la palabra bonito. pero es que todas las
canciones tocadas por la varita de Günter Schlienz lo son. bonitas,
modulares, minimales, delicadas (y cuando crees que no puede componer nada
más bonito resulta que aparece 'dust'....bajad
hasta la número ocho). también sé que no fue la emoción del primer momento,
ni las ganas de encontrar algo que nos enamorase y nos abriese nuevos y
fascinantes horizontes como en su momento lo hicieron Jewelled Antler, Bruce
Langhorne, Valerie Webb & Paul Labrecque, Cap'n Jack, la onda expansiva del
snow folk, las tonadillas de golden apples of the sun, y después Dolphins
into the Future y la 2010 tape-scene nostalgia, y Bill Doob, Former Selves o
Floating Gardens o Panabrite y la telaraña infinita de conexiones e
influencias y la etiqueta mágica library music que nos llevaba de vuelta al
pasado...el disco número once de nuestro duende 'consentido' favorito en
poco menos de cinco años me sigue causando el mismo impacto. Günter es
siempre presente, encariñarse con un sonido, saber que todo nos dirigía
hasta aquí, hasta él. de cuando tienes la certeza de que haga lo que haga,
será lo más bonito que vayas a escuchar nunca. la guinda esta vez viene de
la mano de Norm Chambers (Panabrite), que presta su Rhodes y su sintetizador
en la indescriptiblemente indescriptible 'humble'.
http://www.normanrecords.com/records/147551-gunter-schlienz-contemplation-
Recommended by us on 30th May 2014
8/10 according to Brian
(Norman Records) on Fri 30 May, 2014
Second diskette I have had the fortune to hear on Preservation this week.
Must admit I've not heard anything much from them bar the
Olan Mill album in
the last couple of years. They're always at it though, this is their third
release this year! Gunter Schlienz and his 'Contemplation' is here and I am so
glad it is. I've been contemplating this release for ever and a day. No,
actually I am lying - I've never heard of him - but what he did go and do was
release a tape called 'The Norman Tapes' last year so perhaps we should sit the
hell up and pay attention. Whatever, he's beyond mere sycophant to me.
Once again an album that defies words. Apart from "Ambient New-Age". Those
words are quite welcome to snuggle in its bosom. "Cosmic" too! 'Waning' mid-way
in, for example, is quietly stunning and suitably eerie in its (imagined)
recollection of the brief life of Laika, the first dog in space, her life waning
away but a real mission celebrated. Or it could just mean Gunter really craved a
sandwich? This is actually a bloody great album. Playful, astrally-inclined,
classically-tinged, twinkly, meditative music that has escaped from its sunshine
playroom-pod to roll lazily around your lawn like one of those demented dogs
that look like a massive stringy mop. It's pretty tripped-out and lushly
tranquil and on more than one occasion recalls the likes of spiritualist brother
duo Woo. 'Lament' will delight those who love
Stars of The Lid.
Here we also forge a strong connection in our music-flabby minds to the
wonderful work of Eno/Cluster
and their kosmische brethren in the 70s but also detect a defined essence all of
Mr. Schlienz own devising.
'Contemplation' has definitely got that kind of warmth and wonder to its
character. An hour in the company of these soothing, gracious low fidelity
noisebursts from radio psychedelic hammock and you'll be inviting all those
former friends who voted ukip round for tea to apologise for calling them bad
words last week. Actually....that is another total lie....
RIYL Roedelis 'Selbsportrait', K Leimer, Jurgen Muller 'Science of the Sea'
or Stars of t' lid Tired sounds if Jurgen M is sold out.
http://www.fluid-radio.co.uk/2014/06/preservation-2/
Günter Schlienz:
Contemplation
Preservation
Günter Schlienz’s Contemplation rides waves of synth like a surfer on a
board. Silver fountains fizz with sweet and sour melodies, jetting out of the
experimental music. Sometimes there is a burst, a quick melodic phrase, but the
music can make space for a pause, too, such as a slow-burning bassline or an
inquisitive, snaking line of synth. Drums are absent, but that doesn’t mean
there isn’t a pulse. The rhythms eventually emerge from the synth, but they
start off in a deeper place. You can feel the beat gliding alongside the melody;
silky synth cobwebs from an inhuman source, forming complete, perfect circles
and spellbinding, symmetrical shapes, like a crop circle at first light.
Initially, Schlienz’s synths come across as eerie. They hover around, and
it’s difficult to make sense of their movement, let alone their intent. For the
most part, they feel like amicable visitors, very much like the little machines
in the film *batteries not included – they gently explore the world around them
without ever intruding. Schlienz’s music is calm, peaceable and friendly, which
can’t exactly be said about Europe or its current climate. It’s hard to see just
where the continent is headed after the recent elections brought back an
intolerance that should have been burned long ago: hatred and mistrust, peeking
through a re-opened wound. Music, though, is all about love. The German musician
slowly builds up his transcendent synth temples brick by brick (or note by note)
with loving care. Leisurely pitch-bends, shining, melodic gems and the gentle
bass modulation that occasionally leans to one side are all pathways to a better
place.
The cymbals kiss, peeling back a lush, synth-laden landscape. Rhythms emerge,
laying cocooned inside the synths, rebounding off the walls and in turn
producing a soft syncopation between the notes. It’s the music of freedom, the
Statue of Liberty in musical form, a place where the rainbow is celebrated for
all its outrageous beauty, its diverse, streaming flares that shoot out bright
hues.
The synths do turn darker – we tune into some kind of static-interrupted
communication on ‘Waning’. They then start to oscillate, wavering with
unpredictable lines. A cello creeps in, matching the synth in its pitch, and the
natural, wooden tone contrasts sharply with the electronic timbre. The presence
of a piano on the track ‘Home’ is a refreshing change – the synths are cosy, but
the piano is just as important, is given just as much airtime. The synth has
been lowered, defying gravity with its weightless bass. The piano plays a couple
of repeated notes and then reverses, taking the place of the earlier synth with
its newly constructed, rhythmic chains that link one note to another. It’s an
ambient track without the cliché, and it doesn’t become mushy or pretentious.
The more you listen to Contemplation, the more it comes across as an ambient
album. It is largely electronic, but there are silent pockets where nature has
taken hold. Snaking vines hold onto the melodic lines with a tight grip. The
sedate, lazy buzz of insects have time for contemplation, too, breathing in the
late day oxygen.
http://www.textura.org/reviews/dustedlux_schlienz.htm
Günter Schlienz:
Contemplation
Preservation
Though Contemplation is the German composer's first full-length
work, Schlienz has, in fact, been creating meditations for about a decade. As
the opening setting, “Immaculate” and the later “Waning” reveals, Schlienz's
material situates itself comfortably next to the kind of cosmic synth-based
material released by Oneohtrix Point Never and Panabrite, among others, and it
therefore makes some kind of cosmic sense that fellow astral traveler Norm
Chambers (aka Panabrite) would contribute synth, strings, and Rhodes to
“Humble.” But, with one possible exception, the brooding, thirteen-minute
dronescape “Lament,” Schlienz's tracks are neither epic in scope nor frosty in
character. Instead, a representative piece such as the starry-eyed lullaby
“Janitor” draws the listener into his world with warmth and pastoral serenity.
The first two or three times I listened to Contemplation I was
reminded of Another Green World and an instrumental miniature such as
“Little Fishes”; there's an innocence about the pieces on Schlienz's disc that
charm in the same way Eno's did so many years ago (still do, for that matter),
and certainly the pairing of Masako Kamikawa's piano and Schlienz's synthesizer
makes “Home” sound very much like a lost track from the Eno album. But as I
listened further, it began to dawn on me that Contemplation is perhaps
even more reminiscent of the self-titled album Eno released with Cluster in 1977
on Sky Records. That's never more apparent than during “Humble,” where the
delicate synthesizer melodies sing ever so sweetly, and “Numb,” where child-like
melodies and simple drum patterns burble placidly. Regardless of whatever
associations it invokes, his soothing material offers a refreshing respite from
the omnipresent noise around us, and as if to drive the point home, Schlienz
threads the nocturnal thrum of insects, recorded by dictaphone in Croatia, into
the peaceful fabric of “Shimmer.”
July 2014
testcard #24
26.11.2014
Ohne Gesang kommt auch
GÜNTER SCHLIENZ aus. Der Stuttgarter Musiker bedient Modular-Synthesizer.
Kisten, die er selbst zusammengeschraubt hat und deren Klangschönheit
bezaubernd ist. Ja, in der Tat, nicht mehr und nicht weniger. Schlienz, der
binnen kürzester Zeit in der internationalen Tape- Szene durch eine Vielzahl
hochwertiger Releases auffiel und mit Contemplation (Preservation, CD) seine
erste Veröffentlichung jenseits einer Stückzahl von 80−100 Stück aufzuweisen
hat, ist ein Meister seines Fachs und in einer Reihe mit Zeitgenossen wie
Norman Chambers (Panabrite) oder Daryl Groetsch (Pulse Emitter) zu nennen.
Gleichzeitig atmet Schlienz’ Musik den Geist von Cluster, Harmonia und vor
allem auch Tangerine Dream (von Alpha Centauri bis Phaedra). Musik, die
einerseits ruhig fließend sich über einen langen Zeitraum hin entwickelt −
und andererseits, im geglückten Fall, extrem spannungsgeladen ist. Tangerine
Dream ist mit Zeit eines dieser Alben gelungen, und Günter Schlienz kann
solche Ewigkeitsmarken erreichen, er hat das Zeug dazu. Elektronische Musik
jenseits von Humbug und Daddelei. (Holger Adam)
http://beachsloth.blogspot.de/2013/04/gunter-schlienz-organ-studies-81.html
Monday, April 1, 2013
Günter Schlienz - Organ Studies 8.1
‘Organ Studies’ sounds stuck in
the past. This is in the best way possible. By using limited sounds the focus is
on the emotional content. Schlienz manages to create a great deal out of the
mood of the sounds. Due to the slow evolution of each piece he lets each piece
feel particularly airy. Even at the loudest possible volume these pieces feel
particularly airy. Each sound floats on by as if in a total haze. Rhythm is set
only by the slow layering, one after the other.
For ‘presentation one’ Schlienz
lets the piece evolve gradually. Little details become great, swimming within
the structure. Playing within the confines of the sound makes it particularly
calming. On ‘presentation two’ things get a little more anxious. Yes it remains
clear. Yet there’s a bit more tragedy involved in this piece. ‘presentation
three’ and ‘presentation four’ work together to create the heart of the album.
Each one feeds off of the other. They are so intertwined that it is difficult to
tell the two apart. ‘presentation three’ sounds like a warm up for ‘presentation
four’s epic scale.
Without a concrete beginning or
end these songs appear to go on for infinity. Here the listener only catches a
glimpse of the infinite. In order to better let the listener on his methods he
includes each instrument used in the construction of the song. This knowledge
allows the user to see what is possible using the barest of ingredients. ‘Organ
Studies’ is minimalism done right, done with heart.
http://tapefamous.com
09.04.2013
Organ Studies by
Günter Schlienz is a vision of a dystopian cyclical future past. This
Constellation Tatsu release embodies technocratic spirituality, a theme running
through label counterparts like Field Hymns & Orange Milk Records.
The night sky
blossoms with beams distant, familiar-arcing between islanded hubs. Fleeting
bridges form and resonate hope with memories of hope. Silence made nocturnal
shuttering.
Much of the album has me flashing back to Dune with imaginings of Zardoz
interspersed, notably, the opener PI. PIII & PIV are fresh dawn, weaving
together some incredible landscapes and are reminiscent of early soundtracks of
Werner Herzog. Both are marked for a mediatory explorations mixtape to be
conjured at sometime. Grab a copy from Constellation Tatsu while they
last.
http://www.secretdecoder.net/columns/2013/12/05/new-interfaces-3-faces-of-the-modern-cassette-underground
New Interfaces #3:
Faces of the Modern Cassette Underground
Posted by
Bryon Hayes
on December 5, 2013
So far, we’ve been focusing
primarily on electroacoustic music from Western European countries, created
during the decades immediately after World War II. It was during this period
that early electronic and magnetic tape technology began to reach a broader
audience: clusters of talented individuals invested in experimenting with this
technology for the purpose of crafting works of sound. We’ve only just grazed
the surface of what was created during that time frame, but it feels right to
jump ahead in time to see what has become of this important work.
If we fast forward to today, it’s
immediately evident that a lot has changed. Technologies have turned over:
vacuum tubes gave way to transistors which were then combined into integrated
circuits on microchips. The computer arrived and has taken over the day-to-day
lives of many of us, constantly shrinking in size. Whole electronic sound
laboratories were encapsulated into modular synthesizers, which were then
miniaturized to enable portability; these have since been isolated from hardware
altogether, becoming pieces of software. What took a group of engineers days in
a laboratory can now be done in minutes with a sampler, sequencer or laptop.
In spite of the rapid turnover in
technology that has occurred in the decades following those nascent experiments
with early electronics and bands of magnetic tape, some artists today choose to
work with these anachronistic media for manufacturing works of sound. And,
whether they all realize it or not, a great number of today’s sonic craftspeople
are deeply indebted to those early engineers who built custom circuitry and
spliced sections of tape. Computers, samplers, synthesizers, looping pedals –
the technological basis for a broad swathe of modern experimental sound – can
all trace their lineage back to the laboratories of the post-war era. The world
we live in now is a technological polyglot, the old mingling with the new, and
it’s fantastic!
The phenomenon I just described
can be evinced within the modern cassette underground. Individuals or groups are
experimenting with sound synthesis technology (whether it be modern or
near-ancient), recording their sounds on a laptop or personal computer, and
dubbing the results to a reel of magnetic tape encased in a plastic shell. There
have been an inordinate number of cassettes that have been released this decade,
on a plethora of usually artist-run micro-imprints, that can be offered up as
proof. What follows is just a tiny sampling of relatively recent artifacts that
I chose to demonstrate this idea.
Trained electronics technician
Guenter
Schlienz has been building analog synthesizers and other
music-making creations for about a decade. Previously a guitarist, Schlienz
became interested in synths later in his career and began building up his
arsenal with the help of DIY websites such as Ray Wilson’s Music From Outer
Space and Ken Stone’s Cat Girl Synth project. He’s got a handful of releases
under his belt, some of which appear to be recorded during his travels around
Europe (The Dalmation Tapes, The Sardinian Tapes, etc.). His
Organ Studies cassette was released by Constellation Tatsu earlier this
year, and features six “presentations” of various length. Constructed primarily
using an electronic organ, one of his modular synth creations, and some effects,
the music incorporates a number of modern synth tropes. The brooding spaced-out
drones of “Presentation One” are backed by cosmic effects, eventually dissolving
to allow the intrepid melodies of “Presentation Two” to take hold.
“Presentation Three” and “Presentation Four” are foggy clouds of meandering
tonality, while “Presentation Five” plays electronic ping pong over crashing
waves of static. The tape ends as it began, the shrieking alien cries of
“Presentation Six” hovering in a near-vacuum.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
"basic tracks recorded between 2003-2007 with a diy
modular synthesizer on various locations in croatia. field recordings for track
4 and track 6 recorded with a dictaphone on hvar. thanks to floyd for the
keyboard on track 2. thanks to matthias for the french horn on track 4. overdubs
and editing at the „landebahn studio“ stuttgart, germany. mastered by niko."
the dalmatian tapes
fue la primera grabación autoeditada en cd'r de Günter Schlienz. hizo muy
poquitas copias y las fue regalando a quien le enviara un email para pedírselas.
esta emotiva reseña que escribió
cookshop
de 'tape
studies', que siempre había querido dejar en el blog, en realidad valdría para
cualquier cinta de Günter Schlienz. su música está en cada palabra, cada punto y
cada coma del segundo párrafo.
"Günter construye un sintetizador modular, conecta algunos
cables y nos regala toda una variedad de sonidos, sencillas formas de ondas
oscilantes entrando y saliendo. aparecen, se mantienen y decaen siempre de la
misma forma. las notas se deslizan lentamente, como a la deriva, nos invitan a
apreciar el cálido runrun de la cinta magnética (la música podría haber sido
puramente electrónica pero sonaría más fría, menos acogedora); es, tal vez, un
disco sin grandes significados, sin grandes propósitos, sólo una presencia
mínima, sí, pero una presencia muy significativa, algo que está allí de forma
discreta y silenciosa.
dirás: ¡pero no pasa nada!. ¿dónde está la acción?. pero
mira: el Universo es enorme, probablemente demasiado grande para verlo en un fin
de semana. y la mayor parte está vacío. nos concentramos en aquellos otros
trocitos. los trocitos de restos cósmicos que se convirtieron en estrellas, los
trocitos donde la lluvia ácida cae suave e imperceptiblemente sobre la tierra,
los trocitos donde caminas por las calles con un propósito, para llegar a una
cita; o despreocupadamente, para pasar el rato; o con paso vacilante, ebrio, a
punto de desmayarte, lo que pasó anoche unido a otros muchos recuerdos en ese
vacío existencial. así que no nos olvidemos de la nada. ¿habrá algo que nos
impulse a anotar pensamientos de esa cara diluyéndose entre la multitud que nos
es ajena, o a subir escaleras en la oscuridad hasta llegar a un peldaño que ya
no está, o a tener esa sensación de incomodidad virtual cuando te das cuenta de
que el tamaño de la letra estaba al 90%, cosas que sugieren una sutil pero
evidente sensación de desconexión del mundo? ¿por qué no podemos, aunque sólo
sea por un momento, sentarnos aquí, despreocuparnos y hacer espirales nebulosas
e insignificantes del polvo sobre nuestro ecritorio? seguirás caminando, el
mundo seguirá girando, el universo se expandirá, su nada haciéndose más grande y
su algo volviéndose incluso más remoto. y esos sonidos seguirán ahí,
construyendo un mapa vacío que dice: "Estás aquí". está bien ser importante pero
es más importante ser."
foto:
ada hamza
Saturday, June 29, 2013
"this time, synth artisan,
Cosmic Winnetou
chief
Guenter Schlienz graces
Metaphysical Circuits,
with his third tape of 2013. an enchanted analogue essential. recorded on the
shores of Normandy (yes, outdoors!), "The Norman Tapes" flawlessly merge
Schlienz's trademark minimalist synthesizer harmonization with environmental
recordings (wind, waves, gulls ~ decidedly ambient in themselves.) supreme lo-fi
aural driftin'. tapes dubbed at chez Guenter ~ thus, better sounding than our
"in real-time, from cd-r" home-dubs... "
metaphysical circuits
ay, el sonido de Günter Schlienz parece que nos acompañará
hasta el fin de los días porque, es cierto, no hay cinta suya que no sienta la
necesidad de recomendar. haga lo que haga, estaré ahí. Günter es la
personificación del encanto y la sencillez, de la música concebida para escuchar
de noche y en penumbra. la calma. sin embargo 'the
norman tapes' es diurna y luminosa, está en
las antípodas de las antípodas de la oscuridad y vuelve a demostrar que el
hombre que susurraba a los sintetizadores necesita muy poco para convertir
cualquiera de sus cintas en algo especial. si me pongo a pensar en las grandes
cintas que, cada una a su manera, definen cómo ha sido la historia reciente de
este formato mágico donde los haya en los últimos años, me salen, desde la total
subjetividad, claro, unas cuantas (infinitos grandes pequeños sellos como
Tranquility Tapes, Hooker Vision, Rotifer, Ginjoha, Jozik, Permanent
Nostalgia...), pero por encima de todos ellos situaré siempre 'tape studies' y
aquella portada magnética editada en SicSic Tapes. para mí, junto a 'many moons'
de Former Selves, el verdadero principio de la magia, de las ganas de sumergirte
y saber más.
esta vez mi
debilidad se llama 'arrivées', la canción que destapa la magia en 'the norman
tapes', uno de esos tesoros que hay que compartir y que, si no haces un esfuerzo
titánico, te impiden seguir escuchando la cinta hasta el final. muy suave. muy
muy entrañable y llena de imágenes. como toda la cinta de la pe a la pa. tan
sólo con la delicadeza extrema con que se acerca a 'interlude' y 'talking to
seagulls', mejor cuanto más bajito, le basta para que vuelva a caer rendida.
sonidos analógicos, naturales, los diálogos melódicos que parecen seres vivos,
la contención, la emoción, la brisa, los lugares más fascinantes del planeta, no
son más que pequeñas muestras de la gran capacidad expresiva y artística de
Günter, que se lleva sus cachivaches a las preciosísimas playas y acantilados
cretáceos de Normandía, Francia, refinando hasta el extremo su ambient etéreo
mediante una reivindicación de la austeridad y las grabaciones de campo. suena a
mar, a arena, a rocas cubiertas de algas y caramujos, a sintetizadores modulares
de madera. y es, como mínimo, tan sugerente como 'sardinian tapes' y 'dalmatian
tapes'. el viento y las gaviotas de 'le vent (creux mauvais argent)' y el mar de
'the ghosts of utah beach' definen un sonido, un estado de ánimo y una idea que
sólo parece posible con artesanos como él, Buchikamashi o Lieven Moana.
'the norman
tapes' es una especie de comunión romántica en la que cada mínimo sonido nos
demuestra que la melancolía y su plasmación musical tiene infinitos modos de
manifestarse. su sintetizador, dulce y envolvente, se ve arropado por los
sonidos relajantes del mar, el viento, las gaviotas y las voces lejanas de
niños, yendo del minimalismo al lirismo con la misma suavidad y magia con que un
susurro apagaría una vela. las notas de piano trazan atmósferas tan apaciguadas
e inquietantes como las de Satie, con quien casi de forma inconsciente, cinta
tras cinta, no puedo evitar relacionar. 'vindefontaine la nuit', una dulce
sinfonía de pajaritos, búhos y agua seduce como 'canto arquipélago' de Dolphins
into the Future, demostrando que quizás, sólo quizás, Günter es de lo más bonito
que le ha pasado a nuestro micromundo musical desde Jewelled Antler y que será
una referencia para siempre. de aquí a un par de años, cuando sea considerado
como el mago que es, todos (que éramos muchos) presumiremos de haberlo visto
cuando empezó. una frágil e inolvidable maravilla.
July 12th, 2013 at 9:30AM
GUENTER SCHLIENZ / KYLE LANDSTRA /
NORM CHAMBERS / CLIFFSIDES
SWIM TRUNKS
Speaking of dream
teams. A 4-way split packed with 120 minutes of music by some of the leading
purveyors of brain-melting, brain-soothing, and/or brain-stimulating sounds
today. The common theme here is water, tying together diverse sounds and
approaches. Each artist’s stamp is unmistakable, yet the pieces feel connected
and complementary, highlighting the strengths and individual creativity of each
artist through contrast.
In the three
movements of Guenter Schlienz’s “Watermarked Memories," hazy sine bubbles float
through a wash of pure burbling bass tones, patterns overlapping like waves on
the shoreline. As the sound of actual waves enters the frame, dark clouds begin
to gather, but this storm is nothing to fear, more of a soothing shower on the
beach than a threatening thunderstorm. When the clouds roll away, you realize
the day is over, and dark purple wisps partially obscure a bright grinning moon
in the rearview mirror. Guenter Schlienz has a gift for evoking dim memories
saturated with nostalgia, here overlapping with his equally potent gift for
tracing places in a way that feels both specific and universal. We all have
memories that are like this in color and texture, and the genius of this music
lies in how effectively the sounds unlock them without forcing more specific
impressions on us.
Kyle Landstra’s
“Glittering Devotions to Lake Michigan" tackles the big lake from a number of
angles, concerned with memory like Guenter Schlienz, but here the images feel
more personal and concrete. Movement is suggested by recurring train samples
which seem to bridge evocations of different aspects of the lake and its
surroundings. The grandeur and majesty of the opening tones suggest to me the
immensity of Chicago, the biggest city on the lake. Slow-growing generative
waves follow, making me picture a drive through the majestic Michigan north
woods near Traverse City in the fall. Mist rises over the lake in thin tendrils
of neon Juno tones, overlaid with chittering chirps and bubble noises. The
sounds evolve to take us into the lake itself, cutting through the water with
the rainbow trout and smallmouth bass. Beautiful and precise evocations of a
diverse region.
Norm Chambers of
Panabrite is up next to explore unknown worlds in his “Bathysphere Suite," a
fantastical deep-sea dive that paints images as highly detailed as Kyle
Landstra’s but more fanciful and centered in the imagination. The Bathysphere
was an unpowered, spherical deep-sea submersible from the early 20th century.
Lowered into the ocean with a cable, it was one of the first tools for deep
ocean dives. Artist’s rendering (Yes, I had to look this up on Wikipedia.):
This image is
actually a good jumping-off point for describing the feel of the music. We climb
in and submerge, feeling the mystery and wonder that these early ocean explorers
must have felt. Exotic new creatures investigate this invader in their waters,
as puzzled by us as we are by them; as we go deeper and deeper, the cold and
pressure manifests in icy synthesizer textures, glockenspiel and fingerstyle
guitar. Bleeping modular tones signal our ascent, the mystery receding beneath
us.
Cliffsides
finishes up with “Frozen and Dilated," a haunting astral projection filled with
echoing reverberations. An imagistic travelogue somewhat like the Chambers
piece, the sounds here are similar to the grand slabs of fragmented drone found
on Cliffsides’ monumental “Spirit in the Mountain Temple," abstract and esoteric
where Chambers’ are concrete and detailed. The piece picks up steam slowly but
inexorably, like a chanted incantation, floating over shipwrecks and underwater
mountains on a stream of mystical synthesizer swells. We might float past the
bathysphere at one point, but in this vision we are the natives and it is the
alien. Finally we crawl out of the surf, having traveled a great distance, as a
seagull screeches on the rocks nearby.
Part of a massive
new batch from Space Slave. 8 tapes that I’m only just starting to explore. It’s
all streamable, so you can confirm the quality of the product before buying, not
that you need to. Watching Space Slave evolve out of a great mp3 tape rip blog
into one of the best labels in the experimental/psych/ambient scene today has
been a pleasure over the last couple years. I will probably have something to
say about all 8 of these, so look for a lot of Space Slave love on here over the
next few weeks.
July 11, 2013
A wonderful 4-way
split spanning two C60 tapes. This is pretty much (and probably always will be)
an ideal pairing: tape and drone. The Günter Schlienz side is particularly
incredible. I mean really, seriously beautiful. If you enjoy plenty of pretty
ambient, synth explorations, guitar drones, noise, hiss and all of that good
stuff then you should absolutely check this out.
Available
now from
Space Slave (cassette) and
Bandcamp (digital).
Günter Schlienz / Kyle Landstra / N Chambers /
Cliffsides
Swim Trunks [2xCS; Space Slave Editions]
By
Jspicer on
Aug 19 2013
With just a sliver of summer remaining, you still have time
to don these Swim Trunks and take one last deep sea plunge before you
pack up the cats for winter. And who should be waiting for you at poolside but a
formidable foursome, though they promise they just want to rub sunscreen on your
back and scribble love letters in Lisa Frank notebooks about Davy Jones because
he’s so dreamy. But then they serenade you with four songs so far underwater
that you can’t help but blush a little at the attention. Günter has the sweetest
lullaby, that it makes falling asleep on a lounge chair in the midday sun a
worthy proposition. Kyle and Norm are night owls, waiting for the sun to begin
its descent before feeling comfortable enough to jump in the water and go for a
swim. Cliff may be the weirdest but sexiest. He avoids the water, rarely makes
eye contact, and whenever I pass him the notebook for him to take his turn at
M.A.S.H.; he seems bored of the idea. But I caught him last night, dipping his
toes into the water and splashing about when no one was looking. I get it, he’s
a little shy and plays hard to get. But what they don’t realize is that summer
is fading and it’ll be time to leave poolside, to say goodbye to camp, and head
back to the city for school and heartache. But at least I’ll still have their
Swim Trunks as innocent mementos of our fleeting time together
Michigan-based cassette label Space Slave is enjoying a
well-deserved vacation this summer, after releasing an astounding nine
tapes in July. Swim Trunks is the set’s crown jewel, a
double-cassette featuring four artists, one on each side. Any of these
could have occupied a tape on their own, but here they venture out together
across a sparkling lake of analogue ambience.
If you had half an hour to make an impression, what would
you do? Each of these artists chooses to record a full half-hour track,
although silences and timbre shifts indicate that they are presented in
movements. Günter Schlienz starts the quartet gently with
“Watermarked Memories”. This self-taught musician is no stranger to the
tape format; this is at least his tenth release, and he’s recorded for such
familiar names as SicSic Tapes and Constellation Tatsu. His love for
homemade instruments translates to a homespun sound. The opening ten
minutes are especially lovely, twinkling like stars reflected from calm
surfaces. Then it starts to rain, but this doesn’t ruin his day. Safe
inside a cabin, he experiments with modulated tones and soothing
frequencies, the musician’s equivalent of a rainy day board game. In the
final third, the stars return like bells. (Richard Allen)
Guenter Schlienz - The Norman Tapes
Recorded on the shore of Normandy and other outdoor locations
with a DIY modular synthesizer, this collection of marinistic Kosmische Musik
explorations take Guenter Schlienz (and the listener) to another level of bliss.
The lo-fi, gently drifting quality of the recording puts “The Norman Tapes” in
about the same camp as Jurgen Muller’s “Science of the Sea”, except Schlienz is
a real person. A must have for all fans of everything Kosmische and New Age!
http://www.taz.de/
26.08.2013
Ein kosmischer Klang
weitet den Keller
NEUE ELEKTROHIPPIES Günter Schlienz, hauptberuflich
Tontechniker an der Oper Stuttgart, macht kosmische Musik, die er auf Kassetten
vertreibt. Am Samstagabend spielte er in der Sucked Orange Gallery
Kindermelodien, die ins All geschickt werden. Eine sanft
schwingende Musik, die subtil und nachhaltig beruhigt. Natürlich ist das Musik,
zu der man sich am liebsten auf den Teppich legt, Musik für sehr lange
Autofahrten, am besten durch fremde Landschaften, am besten in Mietwagen auf
kanarischen Inseln.
Der Begriff dazu lautete einmal "kosmische" Musik. Das war
grob gesagt eine Unterströmung des Krautrocks, also frühelektronische Musik aus
den Jahren 1970 bis 1975, Soundexperimente mit frühen, zimmergroßen Synthesizern
und Modulatoren, die gern auf Plattenlabeln wie "Ohr" oder "Pilz" u. Ä.
erschienen - bekannteste Namen waren vielleicht Tangerine Dream oder Floh de
Cologne.
Ähnlich wie der übergeordnete Krautrock, der noch stark auf
Gitarren setzte, mäanderte die kosmische Musik am Rande des Hörbaren und atmete
schwer an den Zeichen der Zeit. So mancher Protagonist blieb auch gern mal auf
LSD hängen; und irgendwann verschwand die Szene in sich - nicht ohne wenig
später von enthusiasmierten Engländern wieder entdeckt zu werden. Noch wenig
später, richtige Musikologen mögen mir den groben Umriss verzeihen, wurde Techno
erfunden, und viele seiner Spielarten fanden in der kosmischen Musik seine
Vorbilder.
Mittlerweile hat sich aber etwas völlig Neues ergeben. Es
gibt eine neue Szene für diese superchillige, fast grundsätzlich beatlose und
dahin treibende Musik. Der Austausch findet natürlich im Internet statt, und
wieder sind es deutsche Musiker, die mit im Zentrum stehen.
Das Medium für diese Musik ist aber witzigerweise die
Musikkassette. Gerade eben erst wurde die neuste Bilanz der Musikindustrie
veröffentlicht - der Markt für die CD bleibt konstant, im Wiedererstarken der
Schallplatte kommt die "stattfindende Individualisierung des Musikkonsums zum
Ausdruck", so jedenfalls interpretiert es BVMI-Geschäftsführer Florian Drücke.
Aber die Musikkassette findet offiziell nicht mehr statt. Offizielle Verkäufe
gehen gegen null. Anders eben hier, unter der Hand, fernab der Industrie: Günter
Schlienz, hauptberuflich Tontechniker an der Oper Stuttgart, vertreibt seine
Musik über Kassetten, für 5 Euro das Stück.
Am Samstagabend spielte er ein kleines, transzendentales Set
im Keller einer kleinen Galerie im Süden Neuköllns; die Luft war zum Schneiden,
die Betreiber sprechen Spanisch. Die Sucked Orange Gallery befindet sich in
einer Seitenstraße knapp vorm Tempelhofer Feld in einer Gegend kurz vor der
Gentrifikation. Schlienz' Instrument an diesem Abend ist ein kleiner Modulator,
der freundlich vor sich hin blinkt, während schön bunte Kabel munter an ihm
herumgesteckt werden; dazu gibt es Töne von einem alten Walkman - eingebaute
Field Recordings, Landschaftsaufnahmen von Singvögeln. Schwingungen, Sounds,
Loops, "ein reduziertes Set", sagt der Künstler, "weil mehr Geräte konnte ich
nicht mit in den Zug nehmen".
Es sind formschöne Kassetten mit formschöner Musik, die
ebenfalls gern das Reisen zum Thema haben. Es gibt "Sardinian Tapes", "Dalmatian
Tapes" und, besonders toll, "Catalanian Tapes". An diesem Abend öffnet sich für
eine knappe halbe Stunde der Raum. Ein klaustrophobisch machender Keller, der
sich in unendliche Klangweiten verliert. So muss es sein.
RENÉ HAMANN
Die Luft im Neuköllner Keller war zum Schneiden, die
Betreiber sprechen Spanisch
http://dirtydirt.jugem.jp/?eid=979
<<
カレリア、ポートピア、クラゲ、キノコのカセットテープ
|
main |
Heavy Hawaii、Julia Kentなどきょうの買い物5枚
>>
2013.04.20 Saturday
みかさんとこのGuenter
Schlienz “The Catalanian Tapes”、そしてみかこさんな今日マチ子
長くおつきあいしていた恋人が失踪してしまい、まえからちょっと知っていた子とよくはなすようになり好きになって、同時に離れてるタイプのちがう子と文通してるまにその子のことも好きになって、というかんじ、がいま。
現実でこれだと、問題だけれど、レコード屋さんのはなしです。
さきほどから。つまり、20日はレコードストアーデイなんです。ニッポンだけでなく、セカイでね。レコード屋さんでレコードを買いましょう、っていう日です。
Warszawaでした。ずっと。
でも、きょねん、なくなっちゃいました。それで、お店にゆかなくなったかといえば、Big Loveさんへ通うようになりました。まえからちょこちょことはいっていたけれど。
で、離れているから、どうしても通信販売というかたちになるけれど、meditationsさんが大好きです。ちょこちょことだったカセットテープ熱に火をつけてくれたお店です。
2店舗とも、ききたいというものをいれてくれてるし、あたらしく知るものがなによりたくさんで。はなしをすれば、つぎからつぎにたくさんなおはなしがあふれてきて。好き嫌い、はっきりというところも、よいな、とおもうし、セカイでみても、この2店舗って、すごいとおもう。いや、セカイにはきっとたくさんあるのやもだけれど、わたしがききたいものに関しては、この2店舗は、すごい。
メジャーなもの、大量につくられてるものだったらAmazonとかでもよいのかなとおもうけれど、すくないレコードなんだからちゃんとレコードのことをかんがえてるレコード屋さんで買いたい。いや、みんなが買わないと、どんどんとなくなるんです、本気なはなし。おなじような位置にあったWarszawaさんがなくなったくらい。
タワーレコがあるから、Amazonがあるからよい、といわれるやもだけれど、もしかしたら、あなたもトツゼンに、ドローンに目覚めるかもしれないし、ずっと先のインディーな音に目覚めるかもしれない。そのときに、ないと困ります、よ。
そして。世間話とか会話が下手くそ、でも音なはなしならいくらでもできる、っていうわたしがまともでいられる場所って、レコード屋さんしかないのね。いや、最近、そこでも引かれてるな、ということあるけれど。
みなさんも、きょう、目が覚めたら、なにを買うとか予定なんかなくっても、気軽にちかくのレコード屋さんにはいってみては。なにかしら、あたらしいセカイが開けるやも。
きょうは休み。
レコード屋さんにいって、買い物して、帰ってきたなら、届きもの。
Guenter Schlienz “The Catalanian Tapes”
Seconds Recordsから。
Constellation TatsuからのんもすばらしかったGuenterさん。
フランス、リヨンのMika Perezさんレーベルです。
本人も、Sunny Dunesや、Sylvia
Monnier名義で活動していて。
Seconds Recordsのレーベル名なとおり、古いカセットテープに上書きして、なんです。
だから、ケースはちょこっとすれていたり、録音部分よりも長い空白な部分があります。
元のジャケットなカード部分の上から、あたらしくはっつけて。
そして、カセットテープ自体にも、真っ黒なスプレー塗装、そこにA面の “a”
の字や、32本限定なうちのこのカセットの番号、そして水玉模様が手描きです。
さらに、いつ録音で、とかがかかれたカードも手書きっていう、すみずみまでものへの愛がつまっています。もう、これ、手に入れるだけでもうれしい。いや、もちろんききます。ききました。
A面。
1曲目。
リズムマシンのささやかな音、そしてとてもやわらかい音がはねまわってたのしげで、そこに透明度が高いけれども、空間をなでるようなやわらかいシンセがはいってきてと、軽やかやわらかがいちどきで、とても心地よい。
2曲目。
例えるならフルートのような澄んだ高いシンセの音がゆったりと響き、そのうしろから、やわらかいシンセの音が細かく反復して、その高い音とともに、軽やかに宙を舞い始めます。もっと宇宙感があるひとだとおもってたんですけど、宇宙まではゆかず、地面すれすれ、滑走して浮び上がってとんでゆくかんじ。
B面。
長尺1曲です。
むーん、っていうシンセの音がゆったり。
そのうしろで、フィールドレコーディングな、会話に、フルート（こちらはほんとの楽器なフルート）の音。さわさわいうフィールドレコーディングとシンセを重ねるものとは、またちがう、日常の空間の、普段はひとが感知できないなにかしらが、可視化、というか可聴化したような。普段感知できないものだから、確実に異質な音だけれど、感知できないだけでそこにあるものだから、ふしぎと馴染んで心地がよい感。さらに、カセットテープなさわさわいうノイズで、より自然に溶け合うかんじで、ステキな。
Sunday, April 21, 2013
"recorded in august, 2010 with a diy
modular synthesizer in barcelona/catalania. field recording for the third track
recorded with a dictaphone at park güell. thanks to niko, mirella and to the
unknown flute player. artwok by
mika pérez."
'the catalanian tapes' es la segunda referencia de Seconds, un sello que acaba
de nacer, tan minúsculo que casi ni se encuentra en el mapa. refleja ilusión por
partida doble, la propia música y el cariño con que Mika (Sunny Dunes, Sylvia
Monnier, Suaves Figures) las saca a la luz, cortando, pegando, diseñando,
haciéndolo todo él mismo. es difícil manifestar una ilusión más desbordante,
cuando las recibes en casa huelen, literalmente, a pegamento y pintura fresca.
la misma ilusión y espíritu 'do it yourself' que desprende Günter Schlienz, ese
duende que un buen día decidió convertir su casa en un pequeño taller de
reparación y colección de vinilos, arreglando viejos equipos electrónicos
estropeados que nadie quería. puede que no sea un duende de verdad, pero igual
sí, porque desde aquel escalofrío llamado 'tape studies' es casi una figura
totémica. parece que lleve aquí desde siempre. que siempre seguirá ahí. y en
cierto modo así será gracias a cintas como 'the catalanian tapes'.
las canciones/presentaciones de Günter comienzan con una aparente calma y se van
entrelazando para finalmente volver al principio. una exhibición de sutileza,
contención y detallismo expresivo que nunca persigue el clímax ni el crescendo,
tan sólo esa agradable sensación de síntesis y sencillez. de notas en suspensión
que se deslizan siempre con delicadeza, de cambios sutiles, de ambient
microscópico como sin sonar, de arquitecturas de sonido en miniatura como el
propio Park Güell al que le dedica una canción. a veces, es sólo una nota, o la
ausencia de notas. a veces, es la sugestión hipnótica que te lleva hacia dentro
como un imán. studies y tapes, repetición y aislamiento, inercia y gravedad,
serán palabras que asociaré para siempre a Günter Schlienz. es increíble cómo
moldea el sonido, cómo lo depura hasta límites extraordinarios, desmenuzándolo
nota a nota, como si quisiese crear una atmósfera especial y un sentimiento
emocional en cada canción. atmósferas que estén conectadas a situaciones
especiales, a ciudades. escuchando su primera cinta, ‘the dalmatian tapes’ y
ahora 'the catalanian tapes', tengo la sensación de que ha llegado a un punto de
depuración donde parece encontrarse feliz, como pez en el agua.
Günter tiende hacia la desnudez, a desdibujar sus pentagramas
para abrazar la esencia creando una pompa de jabón a la que nadie más tiene
acceso. la esencialidad en estado puro. lo opuesto a la pompa. y de ahí su
magia, su ‘duende’. parece imposible que nadie le conociera hasta hace poco,
pero los signos y los azares, el revival que seguimos viviendo, se han
confabulado, para mi felicidad, a su favor.
http://map-anchorsong.blogspot.de/
2013-04-21
ついに届きました！フランスからMikaさんが始めたレーベルsecond
recordsの2番目のカセットです！今回もとても丁寧で心のこもったパッケージ。ひとつひとつペイントされたカセット（まず黒に塗ってそしてかわいい模様も手書きです） どこでどんな機材を使ってレコーディングしたか記した手書きのカード。ものとして持つことの喜びを感じます。今回も32部限定で、すぐにsold
outしました。
今回はGuenter
Shlienzさまの作品。過去にsic sicやconstellation
tatsuやgoldtimers tapesからもリリースを重ねている、ドイツの方です。経歴を見るとかなり長いキャリアを持っていらっしゃる。
A面は、春のあたたかく瑞々しい音が、ふわりふわりと弾んで、リズムマシンの音が時々まわりを飛び跳ねていく。晴れた日に草むらでごろんとなってまどろんでいるような心地よさ。やわらかく響いているシンセが、たくさんの色のペールトーンのボールが、うきうきと踊っている。澄んでいて、あたたくて、やさしい。
B面は、シンセがぼわーんってドローンな進行にフィールドレコーディングの音が背景に。人々の会話やたくさんの細かな物音、遠くから聴こえる誰かのフルートの演奏。そこに時々ぷくぷく・ぴゅあぴゅあって音が聴こえてきて、彼ならではの宇宙なシンセのロングトーンの変化と背景の音を聴いていると、まるで目の前に水色のぼんやりとしたフィルターがかかって、そこから人々の生活の一瞬を眺めているよう。でも、わたしは人々の中には入れない。ただ見つめるだけ。最後は、フィールドレコーディングの音が聴こえる中で、シンセの音はフェードアウトしていく。人々の生活の中に入ることができないわたしは、ゆっくりと後ろへ、消えていく。混じり合わないふたつのものが、重なり、ふしぎな世界が一瞬だけ、生まれています
ずっと繰り返して聴いています。ほんととっても素敵。音もパッケージも。
同じくげっつされたdirty
dirtさんのレビューもぜひに。日本で同じカセット持ってるのって嬉しいですね。
最後に、今回も素敵なカセットを届けてくれて、Mikaさん本当にありがとう！
投稿者
map_miyuki 時刻:
2:04
http://www.thisisbooksmusic.com/2013/05/04/review-gunter-schlienz-the-catalanian-tapes/
REVIEW: Günter Schlienz’s “The Catalanian Tapes” (EP)
Published May
4th, 2013 at 8:18 pm in
Bandcamp,
Music Reviews
with
no comments
Tagged with
electronic,
Günter Schlienz
Günter Schlienz
has been releasing music for the last 15 years or so, initially as Gage but now
under his own name. The Catalanian Tapes (Seconds) is a 3-song EP that gathers
together brand new analog synth gems, each one quite good and exploratory. “Camp
Nou” sounds as comforting as something you might expect to hear in a scholastic
film or film strip, tastefully done as elevator music, or a casual stroll to a
park. “Les Rambles” has a bit more pop to its stride but is equally meditative.
“Inside The Park Güell” is an interesting track, for it is a 10-minute live
recording, venue unknown but a child can be heard in the distance before
Schleinz seems to have calmed him or her to silence. Or something. If you’re
into the electronic path that Schlienz creates, The Catalanian Tapes will be a
listen worth savoring.
http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14811
NIGHT
MUSIC: Guenter Schlienz - Catalanian Tapes
April 25th,
2013 |
music
Delicate
electronic tones in the middle of the night. Like a 1970s science fiction
computer trying to sing you to sleep from its basement home.
Honestbag.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Günter Schlienz
- The Catalanian Tapes (SR - 02)
Visca Günter! peace and love to my friends at
Humboldt Relief
:)
The
Catalanian Tapes, by
Günter Schlienz
on
Seconds Records,
reflects on the ubiquitous beauty of Barcelona. Recorded in August 2010 while
in Barcelona, there is a symbiosis between Günter and this beautiful province of
Catalunya. Günter opens his arms to the wonderful people and aesthetic of
Barcelona, and, in turn, he enriches the denizens and the climate with three
tracks of tranquil, ambient sound. Minimal, gentle currents - recorded on
Günter's DIY modular synthesizer - pervade all three tracks. There is a
calmness or lightness instilled in each track, which reflects the natural beauty
of the area - omnipresent, but especially on 'Inside The Park Güell'.
'Camp Nou', the first track on side A, refers to the majestic futbol stadium,
which is home to FC Barcelona. Across a section of seats in the stadium reads
the message, 'Més que un club' - more than a club. The message corresponds
perfectly to Günter's ambient paeans. Ever since hearing the Goldtimers tape,
I've thought of Günter's music as more than a pleasing succession of sounds and
ideas. Rather, the aural serenity emitted from his DIY machines becomes part of
the listener and illuminates the soul. Gentle, fluctuating tones combine with
echoing transmissions and soft, infinitesimal multi-textured rhythms in the
beginning. The calm, fluid soundscape reflects the tiki-taka (quick passing and
movement) style of FC Barcelona. As the elements coalesce, the track comes
into being. Serene echoing tones spiral upward. Periodic, gentle rhythms
infuse the track with vitality. Nearly imperceptible bass-like tones combine
with soft, voluminous trails of notes that glide along the pitch like a
Xavi-Messi give-and-go - a track that magnifies the splendor of the stadium.
The last track on side A, 'Les Rambles', refers to a street - comprised of
shorter streets - in central Barcelona. Fluid, natural sounds
pervade the tree-lined street. Peaceful tones spread over Plaça de Catalunya
like the incipient sun, which warms the torso as a succession of looped tranquil
tones radiates from the confluence of soft low-ends and blissful transmissions
from the mod synth - an outstanding track! However, don't think we are finished
yet. Side B contains one track, 'Inside The Park Güell', which presents a nice
contrast to side A - one of Günter's finest tracks. Regarding aesthetic, it's
minimal beauty will please admirers of Josh Mason. Designed by Antoni Gaudí,
the tranquility of Park Güell informs Günter's art. At the main terrace, the
slow climb to the cosmos commences with the coming together of reverberating and
ascending tones. Field recordings and flute are interspersed throughout. The
elongated tones from Günter's mod synth stretch the length of the tiled
serpentine bench, which surrounds the main terrace. A masterful track!
Everything about this tape is excellent and it is perched on the highest
of high shelves, where the trichomes glisten. The diligence and love put into
this tape by Mika Perez (Sylvia Monnier), of Seconds Records, is apparent
through the sublime artwork, design, and hand-painted/hand-numbered cassettes.
Home-dubbed in an edition of 32, it is sold out at the source.
However, a few copies may be floating around. Anybody
interested can send an inquiry
here.
peace and love, friends :)
Honestbag.blogspot.com
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The new batch from
Goldtimers is
massive: Eight tapes of great music and alluring artwork. The discography
of this label is growing. It features an array of
wonderful artists including Derek Rogers, Hobo Cubes, No Mind Meditation,
Venn Rain, Greg Davis, Deep Magic, Andreas Brandal, Ophibre and many more.
As I said, this batch is full of quality. Yet, I often
find myself returning to the beautiful modular synth sounds of
Guenter Schlienz.
Guenter's biography reads like a journey through sound. Initially, he was
playing guitar and rock music. Around 1998, however, Guenter started to
experiment with other sounds. Since 2003, he has constructed diy modular
synthesizers and released a few tapes. Urban
Tapes, Guenter's most recent
work on Goldtimers, is a collection of sounds that remind me of different
states of being - snapshots of time. These beautiful tracks
feel nostalgic, elegiac, foreboding, opaque and convalescent. Of course,
each experience is unique; and i'm not surprised that the meaning behind
some of these tracks varies wildly with my interpretations. Given these
emotionally resonant tracks, I'm eagerly awaiting the next release from
Guenter.
Urban Tapes is another winner, in a batch replete with awesome music.
Goldtimers has a really nice deal, which includes shipping: 8 tapes for
$35. It is one of the best deals around, from one of the burgeoning greats,
Goldtimers. Peace.
Guenter Schlienz, “Urban Tapes” tape
March 14, 2012
By
Dave
Miller
Guenter Schlienz recorded these tracks in his own room out in
Stuttgart, Germany. Modular synth was his medium. And what he creates is
a serene audible picture that artificially paints nature’s portrait. I
think it’s ironic that this tape is called Urban
Tapes because I get anything but out of this
release. Instead I get babbling brooks, quiet animal calls, crowing
ca-caws, passing clouds, and vast windblown meadows. Perfect peace and
qualitative quietude. Some of it is almost too chill, but I see it as
getting in touch with the natural world that allows us to be free of the
busyness and anxiety that we have created for ourselves. Perhaps while
planted in the midst of urbania Schlienz invented these environments to drop
himself off somewhere a bit calmer and more organic. There are other
eerier moments that even have samples of children playing, but I see this as
human interactions with the world around them. At most the sometimes
haunting attitudes could be a reflection of solitude and reflection in the wild.
This still keeps it within the realm of the natural and not the manmade.
Overall, this is a very satisfying and chill tape that ushers you into pure
tranquility without sugarcoating you with syrupy bliss. This is a sincere
and authentic listen. Schlienz is a masterful composer that I put up there
with the likes of Erik Enocksson. This could be one of the most underrated
tapes that we’ll see come out this year. I doubt it’ll get much attention,
although it deserves first-class coverage on every blog. Honestly though,
I think the cover art could’ve been better. The inner j card design and
art is so much nicer than the outer art. It’s got beautiful pics of what I
think are snapshots of Stuttgart. Goldtimers did a nice job of dressing up
the tapes themselves in clear color shells and minimal pro imprinted fonts.
Unheard #8: Goldtimers Tapes
June 25, 2012
By
Michael Tau
Goldtimers Tapes
Hot damn are
Goldtimers Tapes
putting out some interesting schnizz these days. Their big-ass 2012 batch, a
slobbering mass of impeccably designed cassettes, was a lot to digest, and I
mean that it the best possible sense. With such a bulk of new output, it’s
remarkable how much of it is, well, really, really good. [...]
Having been through so much Goldtimers goodness, I approached
Guenter Schlienz‘s
Urban Tapes almost as an afterthought. To be honest, I picked it out because it
was a longer tape and I wanted something to fall asleep to. But lying in the
dark, I found myself transfixed. This entire record was done using a homemade
(!!) modular synth, garnished sparsely with organ and field recordings. It
sounds like something that would be emitted via pirate radio over a deformed,
dystopian cityscape – straight out of Repo Man.
Schlienz, for his part, was a rock guitarist for many years before sidestepping
into experimental sounds by way of his considerable technical knowhow – he’s
also a sound engineer for the Stuttgart opera. Some of the majesty of the opera
seems to have seeped through into this tape, particularly on the subtly
symphonic opening piece. But what’s most striking is the manner in which he
integrates multiple layers of sound on top of one another while retaining a
sense of simplicity. The tones and blips float freely in the air, twisting and
curtsying around each other with ethereal ease – in my para-somnolent state, it
felt almost as though I was about to leave my body and drift out the window
myself. This one gets my highest recommendation.
Monday, January 28, 2013
"a frozen bird song in a serious dawn. sometimes dark
alleys, sometimes a plant emerging from the soil.
the Urban Tapes
by
Guenter Schlienz
is his latest journey from the physical state, and latest in a series of
portable DIY field synthesizer recordings."
hay música inevitable, a las que vuelvo una y otra vez
como por inercia. porque la música Gunter Schlienz es inercia, podría pasar
horas y horas escuchándola sin hacer nada más. además de suscribir punto por
punto cada palabra de michael tau, todavía me pregunto porqué 'urban tapes' pasó tan de
puntillas el año pasado y preferí no incluirlo en la lista de mis discos
favoritos: es bonito hasta el infinito, tanto o incluso más que 'tape studies',
'through the music to the self' y 'furniture sounds'. como esas tres cintas,
mantiene el caudal de notas ingrávidas y silencios que le caracterizan y
contiene algunos de los minutos más hermosos, distinguidos y emocionantes de ese
duende que saluda sonriente desde la ventana.
Guenter Schlienz necesita pocos elementos para hacer
magia, un sintetizador modular construido por él mismo, un mínimo
acompañamiento de órgano y algunos field recordings (voces de niños jugando en
el patio trasero de su casa, coches transitando por carreteras mojadas). una
combinación tan perfectamente suave que empiezas a ver un atisbo Clara Rockmore
en 'sonnet' y de música clásica a partir del minuto dos de la cara b,...
escondido, muy escondido. el que te va hundiendo entre los sintetizadores de
plumas mullidas hasta dejarte inmóvil, quieta, escuchando, como si el paso del
tiempo no existiese, o fuese una preocupación para los demás pero no para ti. tú
ya estás en el cielo. 'urban tapes' es otro ejemplo de su facilidad para tejer
composiciones que tintinean como nanas gracias a ese sonido hipnótico, frágil y
minimalista tan particular. nanas para escuchar en la oscuridad, de noche, para
saborearlas lentamente como una taza de colacao entre las manos y una vaporosa
aureola a su alrededor cuando hace frío. él, con sus canciones íntimas y
transparentes que para mí siempre serán moléculas.
guide me little tape
writing about tapes and lps, occasional
giveaways
Tuesday, August
28, 2012
Günter Schlienz - Tape Studies
So things have reached the point with Sic Sic Tapes that
batches just don’t last. In fact, Tape Studies, the wonderful new edition
from Gunter Schlienz, is, I believe, already sold out. Four solo electronic
compositions performed largely (maybe completely?) on
equipment
created by Schlienz himself.
Despite what I’m sure are hours, weeks, months, and even years, spent
perfecting his equipment, and craft, these tracks seem absolutely
effortless. Deceptively simple sequenced loops of ambient shimmer. Song
construction that seems more a ghostly lullaby, than the typical synthesizer
space trip. Each track begins with a basic melody, and patiently layers
loops until completion. Not just creating sounds, but creating the creator
of sounds. I can’t even comprehend the level this stuff is on.
Each hand numbered insert in the batch of 80 comes backed
with layers of actual tape. I have no idea how long that must have taken,
but the effect is completely sick. Sold out at
Sic Sic and
Discriminate,
scour the web for copies and watch for updates to the
Sic Sic Bandcamp.
Honestbag.blogspot.com
Tuesday,
August 28, 2012
the
music of awareness. peace and love to my friends at
Humboldt Relief :)
BEST OF
2012
A surfeit of great music has been released in the current year. The
summer has presented many intriguing releases such as Matt Krefting on
Kendra Steiner Editions, Innercity on Sloow Tapes, Tim Coster on No Kings -
i could name a bunch more.
Günter Schlienz' latest release
on
Sicsic
- Tape Studies - is one of the
most impressive of the year. The proprietor of
Cosmic Winnetou,
Günter has released four outstanding tapes this year on Goldtimers, Cosmic
Winnetou, Gift and Sicsic. One of the pinnacle listening experiences
of this year, Tape Studies is an exemplar of elegant ambient music.
Through four long form pieces, Günter bathes your receptors with warm
ambient, cosmic and spectral tones. The love and diligence exerted in
creating his
modular dream machines
is conspicuous throughout.
The first track finds Günter in fine form, as playful melodies comprised of
warm tones dripping with effects, gently drift through the cosmos. The
beautiful sounds recall the early stages of múm - ethereal, innocent and
unadulterated. The second track is more mysterious and introspective,
as a thick tone oscillates, ascends, and then retreats to garner more
energy. Buffeting that glorious tone are chugging noises, signals and
metallic transmissions. Always breathing and morphing, this track
exhibits Günter's proclivity for knowing just where and when to add elements
- which is especially apparent on the final track. The last track on
side A, 'Presentation Three', is the epitome of warm ambient music. On
this track, Günter utilizes an electric organ to create peaceful and
edifying paeans. It's characterized by a confluence of warm tones that
outline the contours of consciousness - healing music. The flip is
comprised of a spectral, side-long track, as treated solitary tones expand
and modulate. Tones that have the characteristic of a theremin weave a
tortuous path through the architecture of the mind, buffeted by resonating
and suspenseful tones - think Suspension era Ambarchi. This track demands
your attention with its slowly morphing characteristics. As the track
progresses towards the final section - my favorite part of the track - the
tones seem to expand softly - losing vitality, yet still hanging on the edge
of consciousness.
Tape Studies is accompanied by the beautiful artwork of Johannes Schebler
and an insert of actual tape - pure sicsic. While this is sold out
from the source, Discriminate and Meditations, it is still available from
S.O.L Sound.
I would travel anywhere for these sounds. While the mp3's will likely
be posted to the
sicsic bandcamp page, go that
extra mile to locate a copy of this tape. Also, be sure to pick up a
copy of Günter's new tape on Gift, available from
Discriminate.
peace and love, friends :)
Thursday, September 20, 2012
"Günter Schlienz is a quiet handed
modular scientist, building his own instruments to create quality cosmic sounds.
but we won’t spill the beans about the technical details and the specific
process it took to cook up this high octane ambient music. all we are allowed to
share ist that it’s all about Reel-To-Reel and Echos n’ Delay and Modular
Synthesizers ~ but the exact recipe’s locked up in a secret
Hobbykeller-Laboratory located somewhere unknown in Stuttgart. all you can do
is: get some of Günter’s sonic narcotics, plug in your headphones and travel
space without leaving the comfort zone of your couch!"
sicsic
minimalismo y microscopismo, trocitos de sonidos cortados y pegados en estado de
duermevela, recuerdos y sonidos familiares que no consigues ubicar... el
misterioso duende günter schlienz acaba de llegar y se esconde detrás de viejos
sintetizadores que a veces ('presentation four') parecen un theremin (el
instrumento más fascinante del mundo de los instrumentos fascinantes): spel de
kandahar, étude des têtus de miaux, archives I de bil vermette y tape studies de
günter schlienz. cuatro discos favoritos de este año que por el aura añejo y
especial que desprenden y que tanto me recuerdan al retrofuturismo de los años
cincuenta y a las composiciones de
louis y bebe barron en 'forbidden
planet', no puedo evitar relacionar entre sí. poco puedo añadir a las palabras
de
guide me little tape y
honest bag, sólo insistir en lo
mucho que agradezco que sellos como taped sounds, sicsic tapes o field studies
estén ahí, recordándonos que siempre habrá un nuevo tesoro por descubrir
dibujo:
paul flanderky
«ample food for stupid thought»
October
28, 2012 •
No Comments
© SicSic
A1.
Presentation One: Reel-to-Reel & Modular Synthesizer
A2. Presentation Two: Tape Echo & Modular Synthesizer
A3. Presentation Three: Four Track Cassette & Electric Organ
B. Presentation Four: Two Reel-to-Reel & Modular Synthesizer
Guenter Schlienz
has built a modular synth, holds a fistful of patch cords, and will give us
a handful of sounds, simple waveforms coming and going, attack sustain and
decay clearly marked out, notes slowly drifting, the warm invitation of tape
hiss (this music could have been made purely electronically, but it would
sound harder, less welcoming); not, perhaps, an album of any great
significance, only a small presence, maybe, but a definite one, something
which is quietly there.
You might say: but nothing happens! Where’s the action?
But look: the universe is big, probably too big to see it all in a weekend,
and most of it is empty. We concentrate on those other bits, true, the bits
where cosmic debris has coalesced into stars, the bits where sulphuric rain
falls lightly on a world, the bits where you walk through the streets
purposefully, to make an appointment; or carelessly, to kill time; or
unsteadily, drunk, about to pass out, events of the previous night joining
most of your other memories in that universal emptiness. So let’s not forget
the nothing. Must we always be jotting down thoughts on that face in the
crowd that isn’t quite his, or climbing stairs in the dark and reaching for
a step that isn’t there, or feeling unease on the web and realising your
font size is at 90%, things which suggest the subtle but definite sense of
disconnection we feel from the world? Can we not, just for a while, sit
here, and nurse our head, and make insignificant nebulae from the dust on
our desktop? You will still walk, the world still turn, the universe expand,
its nothing growing ever more vast and its something getting ever more
remote. And these sounds will continue, making an empty map that says “You
are here.” It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to
be. (stilton)
s
31.10.2012
http://tometotheweathermachine.com/reviews/2012/11/guenter-schlienz/
02.11.2012
Guenter Schlienz
Tape Studies
(Sicsic, 2012)
For: Tim Coster, Lunar Miasma, Keith Fullerton Whitman
Byline: Beautiful and haunting experiments with electronics and synthesizers
from the seasoned composer
Synths rule. Guitars... they are cool. We know this. But synths
aren't going down without a fight, and not by a long shot. Um, not that it is a
fight or anything, but still, we have guys like Mr. Schlienz here, folks not
only performing on synthesizers but also building them, toying with circuits and
electronics to expand these instruments' capabilities in exciting (however
totally nerve-calming, coma-inducing) ways. And the heck of it is that Schlienz
is a guitarist—over 150
gigs under his belt in various rock/folk iterations over a six year period in
the 90s for starters. Since 2003, however, Schlienz discovered and fell in love
with electronics, experimenting with circuitries and tape machines and immersing
himself in experimental music culture. And so we at the Tome refuse to sit idly
by; we simply cannot ignore what's going on here either, even though guitars
happen to be destroying it in 2012. And neither can Daniel,
thee good Daniel of Germany's Sicsic Tapes,
who has commited this series of compositions to cassette tape for our zombified,
zoned-out, post-halloween pleasures.
Yes, Schlienz has created this year's must-have catalyst for
pupil-rolling stupors. A few minutes of either side feels like the equivalent to
absinth plus a heavy dose of whiskey (and/or possibly cough medicine), all of it
happening to you while being situated in a not-too-distant Terminator-esque
future. To be fair and honest, Side A has more of an optimistic feel altogether,
a starry soundscape spread across the stereo space in "Presentation One" as
synths flicker to life like little beacons of hope. Side B, however, is a
hangover happening in the most barren of landscapes, Schlienz's droning tones
lined out into a flat and unforgiving expanse of apocalyptic lonliness. No
matter the mood presented, there are hallucinations blueprinted into this
music's wavery wavelengths, and in them ghosts fluttering and flying about. Each
individual note might be one, with its own character and personality—coming,
going, making appearances only to wane away before re-entering minutes later to
reprise its contribution to the endless, spiraling musical conversation. It's a
real dizzying cycle of sound that is elongated in form, often drawn out for what
feels like ever... a technique that might drive some mad. Full of repitions in
melody and harmonic underpinings (especially the 4th "study," found filling out
the entire B-side of the tape). But to others, the patience and restraint is not
only apparent, but obvious—masterfully done, Schlienz allows for each little
nuance to be given its full attention and space to develop and contribute to the
compositional whole, whether the presentation be more melodic-based, like the
first track, or centered more in texture and dynamics, as is the case with
"Presentation Two."
After years of studying and tinkering in the studio and in live
spaces, Tape Studies—a
work that uses reel-to-reel, modular synthesizers, organ and tape echo—may very
well represent the composer's most-seasoned and developed accomplishment yet. A
fascinating and diverse array of approaches to synthesized sound that presents a
common, almost cliché instrument in new ways to keep us all thinking and
wondering about the still-endless possibilities of electronic sound. As long as
there are Frankensteins out there, no one instrument, method, genre, or form
will ever be complete. Music, as it were, is always an unfinished business...
that's why the hell we do this anyway, isn't it. So thanks, Guenter, for
reminding me of this simple and oft-forgotten truth.
Crawf
p.s. Unfortunately, this tape appears to be sold out from the source, but check
with distros for a chance to nab a copy. And by the way, Sicsic has already
released another batch that appears to be as stellar as the last one (which I am
still wading through), and these suckers go quick, so don't sleep!
Jason E. Anderson (Gift Tapes)
about “through music to the self” demo
02.05.2012
This recording is amazing! My favorite I've heard so far! Beautiful
use of space throughout, really nice pacing and repetition, great combination of
gentle melodic lines and ambiguous void moments that gently sift though
atmosphere. I keep imagining this softly lit dreamworld of the
unconscious. I especially appreciate the mood it evokes, equal parts ease,
meditative, darkness, hypnotic... kind of internally expansive.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
"cooling drift over soft terrain; smooth modular ambient for
inner voyages (Inspired by the book of
Peter Michael Hamel.)"
buff, qué se puede decir a estas alturas del misterioso
duende
güenter schlienz.
sabemos que acaba de publicar dos de mis discos favoritos de este año, los
intimistas "tape studies" y "furniture sounds", que desde 1987 lleva dedicado a
la música, fue músico de la calle, profesor, y lo más importante, construye sus
propios instrumentos, sintetizadores modulares y guitarras. en "trough music to
the self", inspirado en el libro de peter michael hamel, alcanza un nivel de
belleza fuera de este mundo, de verdad que si tape studies es una obra maestra,
"through music to the self" es igual de detallista, igual de elegante, igual de
sutil. un trocito de satie con filtro cósmico, una experiencia sensorial y
física que alcanza el clímax en el hipnótico "capítulo III". así al vuelo, y sin
ser ninguna experta en sonidos electrónicos, las diferencias entre las tres
cassettes no parecen muy reconocibles, de hecho tengo la sensación de que para
tener la fotografía completa hay que escuchar los tres discos como una misma
obra. günter contacta con el más allá en el 'capítulo I', construye nanas
fantasmales de extrema fragilidad, casi transparentes, a partir de un loop que
una vez más me recuerda al theremin, sube y baja, las adorna, envuelve y
acaricia con silencios y diversos tratamientos electrónicos de trazo elegante y
pausa delicada, minimalista. si fuera una imagen, o una palabra, pienso en
moléculas, como las de la portada de 'furniture sounds, en células volátiles que
hacen cosquillas. llega y se aleja envuelto en brumas, como esos drones que
parecen olas que despiden el disco en el "capítulo cinco" ('encuentra tu
frecuencia personal a través del poder de la respiración'). 'hacia el interior a
través de la música', definitivamente, el perfecto compañero de viaje de 'on
sea-faring isolation' y 'the voice of the silence' de dolphins into the future.
Another Year Gone
January 28, 2013
By
Eric
Hardiman
[...]
Guenter Schlienz – Through Music to the Self (Gift Tapes)
Utterly gorgeous synth music – minimal, haunting repetitive electronics that
truly deserve the term “masterpiece”. Schlienz has built up a body of work
that is of the highest quality, and this tape (on the fantastic Gift Tapes
label) exemplifies the restraint and melodic invention that really set him apart
from other synth purveyors of the day. An addictive listen, and mandatory
for those interested in minimalism and synthesizers.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
+in+action.jpg)
